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Comment by Zetice | Hacker News Reader

Okay great, but now the lowest cost of the car is an extra $10k because the manufacturing just got a lot more complicated as a result of not being able to build every car the same way.

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They can't even build two cars the same way everytime, I think we'll be okay.

That's variance, not intentional.

This is naive. Tesla isn't selling the base model below cost. If they did, then Tesla would be wiped out unless people shelled out for the extras, because they'd be losing money on every car sold.

Instead, what's happening is that the current price fully reflects the cost of production, and holding the extras hostage is pure gravy.

Nobody claimed Tesla was selling base models at cost? Completely unrelated to the point.

That sounds like problem of a manufacturer not problem of a user.

The price of the product being higher isn't a problem for the user?

Correct. That's a problem of a manufacturer for not having a competing product.

Would be a nice story if it weren’t for the inconvenient fact that Teslas are selling like crazy as they are.

Sounds like it would be problem for the consumer, though clearly a solved one.

Adding 10k to the cost of the lowest priced car is definitely a problem for both the user and the manufacturer.

Then customers have the choice to purchase a vehicle from a manufacturer with more scruples who is willing to sell those features without charging to "unlock" them.

...can you name one? Because every manufacturer does this.

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