Tesla Model 3 is the #1 Best Selling Car in the US by Revenue
cleantechnica.com
cleantechnica.com
That's a lot of money.
> In August, Tesla’s Model 3 became a top 5 best selling car in the US by units [and #1 by revenue]
It's honestly a bit suprising to see this. Keep in mind that it is only data for August, so it might not be representative for the future. But if Tesla continues on this track, they could very well become the Apple of the car industry. Selling a product with clearly defined and differentiated aesthetic design, with a loyal customer base, at a premium price.
I know they have quite a few problems in other areas, but I wish them the best. This entire electric car revolution wouldn't have happened for another 10-20 years if not for Tesla and Elon.
Is the model 3 really that worth?
Thinking about: Charging anxiety, resale value, relative inexperience in car building from Tesla(compared to Audi and Merc).
The $30K Model 3 I would think is radical and would turn several heads from the Accord, Camry etc..
But buying a Model 3 means waiting on the list like a liver transplant recipient, which I couldn't do without some ride. Had Model 3s been more widely available, I would currently own one. And the $35k option was looking both less appealing and less likely to be produced.
After an issue at the Nissan dealership, I got a Camry Hybrid from the Toyota dealership. From the Model 3 reviews I've watched, the cars seem comparable in trim and features, once the panel gap issue was resolved.
The Camry has more range (500+ mi), but a slower (6 second) 0-60. This range means spending about $750-$1100 per 10,000 miles. Including the extended warranty, the TCO for the first 100k miles should be under $40,000.
The Model 3 is for the person who is happy to spend an extra $23,000 in car, to save $12,000 in fuel.
Oh boy! I'm going to use this so often. Thanks.
I don't buy this. There hasn't even been an electric car revolution yet in my opinion, and when there is it will be because of plug in hybrids slowly extending their all electric range over time as electric car charging infrastructure improves.
Toyota and Chevy deserve far more credit for the Prius and the Volt than Tesla does for their cars, although I will admit that the Tesla roadster was part of what motivated Chevy to make the Volt.
Having spoken to a couple of people working R&D at traditional car companies they tell exactly the same story. Tesla 'forced' them to dust off all those proof of concept tests their labs had done years ago and try to get them into production. Without Tesla those concepts would probably still be in a filing cabinet in their labs.
But I agree volumes need to go up more. We're talking about 1% of overall cars sold. It will take a while for that to get to double digit numbers. Certainly nobody else than Tesla seems ready to produce at any substantial volume. Tesla may double or quadruple their production in the next years and it won't be enough to get there. However, them doing that would be very disruptive to manufacturers trying to currently trying to sell cars at the same price points.
Some of these short sellers /seem/ to behave like someone taking out a fire insurance on your house and then soaking the front lawn of it with gasoline.
It's easier to sabotage than to build.
The shorts are essentially bets saying “All you investors should have put you money into other more productive investments” And while we can debate whether this is true or not. The shorts might have had it. And if they “win” it just means that a lot of investors wasted a lot of money in Tesla building up a brand and inferior product when they could have instead just backed other companies with similar products like the Nissan Leaf, which by the way out-performs the Tesla model 3 in test scores but doesn’t have the same levels of internet hype.
You can’t unelaterally state that anyone who’s “building something” is in the right and all shorters are working against sociaty. Look at Theranos, the doubters and naysayers had it right. It was a huge waste of time, money and talented people. Even if they did have incredible levels of hype at the peak.
All that said. I hope Tesla succeeds, but I won’t hold it against the shorts if they don’t. Tesla is a huge gamble and overvalued even by Musks own admission.
I will probably get downvoted for it, but I can see a similar pattern in American politics.
It may have been inflated especially if you believe the value represented the here and now but the fundamentals haven't changed, in fact they may be even better than expected. Once Tesla hits profitability on the account sheet (they already make close to 20% on every Model 3 sold but are 'losing' money because of heavy investment as far as I can tell).
They're betting big on at least mid range Trucking switching electric because according to them it'll be cheaper to operate electric fleets. They got a pickup, the model y, planned to begin production soonish. They can lower their unit prices once they hit massive scales due to multiple gigafactories. They operate their own charging network, no other car manufacturer comes anywhere close to what they have.
My thinking is that the biggest slump in terms of uncertainty (if there ever was any) and production trouble and cash flow is now past. I bet now is the best time to buy Tesla until ever again because they're very likely about to skyrocket imo. If so, thank Elon for hitting that blunt, I guess.
Personally I hope they succeed on both the production and price front and that I can one day actually walk into my local Tesla dealer and buy a Model 3 for $35k.