Tesla Model 3 Revealed With 220-Mile Base Range, $35,000 Price
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Why a story specifically surrounding the Tesla Model 3, you might ask? General Motors and Tesla have long traded blows over electric cars and the Model 3 is poised to be some of the most direct competition to the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV. Now that Tesla has finally revealed official specs surrounding its mass-market electric car, we can finally compare the two.
Tesla held a “Handover Ceremony” for the first 30 customers of the new Model 3, where the automaker delivered the big news: an EPA-estimated 220 miles of range and a $35,000 starting price. That’s compared to the 2017 Bolt EV’s 238 miles of range and a $37,495 starting price. Both cars qualify for up to $7,500 in federal tax credits.
The big question is this: does the lower starting price of the Model 3 outweigh 18 fewer miles of range? For most average consumers, probably not. But there’s no denying the Model 3 is a sexier looking piece of machinery than the Bolt EV, and both cars have their own fans.
There’s a catch to the Model 3, however. Tesla CEO Elon Musk hinted the sedan would outgun the Bolt EV’s 238-mile range—and it does if the customer will pay up. The 220-mile range Model 3 warrants the $35,000 price, but a 310-mile range Model 3 is also available, though, the price climbs to $44,000. At launch, the long-range Model 3 will be the only version available; the 220-mile range variant will enter production this fall.
To keep costs down, the Model 3’s interior is very minimalistic. There’s no gauge cluster, only a 15-inch touchscreen in the middle of the cockpit to display all vehicle information. Standard features include navigation, Internet connectivity, LED headlights, and basic Autopilot electronic driver aids such as collision avoidance and automatic emergency braking.
$5,000 nets the advanced Autopilot functions found in the Model S. More luxurious features such as leather trim, 12-way power seats and upgraded audio system can also be had for an additional $5,000 package.
Tesla plans to produce 100 cars in the month of August, but will ramp up production to 1,500 cars in Septemeber. By December, Musk says production will be around 20,000 cars per month. Those who place an order today will likely receive their Model 3 by the end of 2018.
At the same time, the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV will roll out nationwide at the end of summer, which means the Bolt EV remains a “right here, right now” kind of choice for electric car buyers. Nissan will also debut its 2018 Leaf this fall as well.
Tesla has fired its first mass-market electric car shot, but it remains to be seen whose firing power will be heard ’round the world—a new American revolution in transportation is brewing between GM and Tesla.
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it is going to be who can afford to lose the most money for the longest period of time to see who wins since both cars are money losers.
I already know the answer to this.
Tesla has to make money on everything the produce to bring new product to market. As of now they are dropping behind as earnings are below spending. Hence the preselling of the 3.
Now on the other hand GM only needs to sell more trucks and CUV models to produce the next gen.
It really that simple.
Not a Tesla lover or hater, but you can give them points for:
– a tech stock that actually makes something (vs, say, Snapchat or Twitter).
– made in America. And the batteries will be, until they start manufacturing batteries for Europe over there.
– just a hunch, but I suspect GM is a better company because of the competition. GM reacted; Ford and FCA haven’t … they’re way behind on the curve.
– Tesla makes other things – energy storage, solar panels, power wall, etc.
Styling could be better. Kinda slow on the CUV/SUV front. Rockets are a distraction. Maybe Mr. Musk is a bit of a Howard Hughes character. And maybe they will go the way of Baker, but they’re leaving a trail of innovation in their path for others to learn from and improve upon.
So he does ‘Dare Greatly.’ They might fail mightily. They were inspired by the EV1, though. Even if they don’t succeed, Tesla’s making things more interesting than Apple did, who called it quits after they found out how hard it is.
Are there really that many out there that like the interior of this/these cars? To think GM is always bashed for the interiors of their cars and this nothingness with a large touch screen is appealing to enough of the masses?
Life must be grand while on the “Tesla is tech” bandwagon?
In a perfect world the share holders (who want one) should be given a car first. So they have something to show for their investment before the Tesla D-Day comes.
I would certainly prefer real gauges to a big iPad glued to the center of a panel.
I guess it saves them the cost of designing and manufacturing of the knobs, switches, gauges, potentiometers or rheostat etc. etc. for the traditional bio mechanical human functions, we’ll just go with touch this!
I believe that adding buttons and knobs adds another $12,000 to the price.
Believe the model Motor Trend had access to was $55-$59k! I’ll pass!
It doesn’t mean that a smaller screen couldn’t be used as a gauge cluster. Several cars all ready do it graphically, and don’t require ‘traditional’ dials to indicate speed.
Have you tried to adjust your A/C on a touch screen?
I don’t think it can be any harder than using photoshop on a tablet.
I think Raymond is referring to the lack of kinetic feed one gets with actually turning a knob or touching lever. As apposed to touching somewhere on a screen with eye’s on the road while driving at HI way speeds, where one does not use Photoshop.
This seems ok, but we need to know more about the car to see if it will be up to snuff as the awesome Bolt.
Also customers are fleeing from traditional cars, so advantage any crossover like vehicle that is full electric.
Well one had better look at the option list as $35,000 does not buy much.
The designer loaned his car to Motortrend and with the $9,000 extended range battery and other normal options his cars sticker was $59,000.
At $35,000 you get the choice of black paint. You want Red that is another $1000 and it goes from there. Everything pretty much is alacart.
Not a fan of the nose or dash.
I would recommend to put on you seat belts as this Tesla media love fest is just starting.
Tesla is using the same sales planning that has made Apple so rich, accessorization. You like soup, I’ll sell you a bowl of “soup”. It comes with a delicious tasting chicken stock, we have plenty of accessories you can ad to it to your tastes.
Chicken:
white meat $9,000
Dark meat $5,000
Tomato’s:
Fresh, whole $5,000
Stewed $3,000
Green (Not available at launch)
Potato’s:
Only available with optional red metallic paint ($1,000)
etc.
etc.
etc.
Maybe the Tesla sales model is what Albert Einstein was referring to when he said
“I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.”
Not that Tesla has invented anything technologically advanced or anything superior!
this may work on $100,000+ car but will it work on a $35,000 car ???
“Maybe the Tesla sales model is what Albert Einstein was referring to when he said
“I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.””
Einstein never actually said that line. It’s a line from the 1995 science fiction film Powder.
http://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/03/19/tech-surpass/
“The world will have a generation of idiots.”
The world already has enough IDIOTS, as evidenced by most of these comments. Generations ad infinitum
Grawdaddy
It is a notion none the less that I have used to get my point across. Good job on that search!
I feel the same way regardless of who said it.
A la carte is a European way of ordering cars. A lot of high-end cars in Europe are customizable because buyers don’t need the satisfaction of driving it off the lot the same day. This eliminates having vehicles sit on the lot and just wasting space.
I would get used to this because with the automation of manufacturing we will be going back to a just in time supply chain.
I do have to say having black as the original color is a great dig at the model T
Bingo Benz and BMW have done it for years.
Just not sure many will be happy under $45,000 here.
Tesla also keeps a tight grip on their inventory; none of those 100+ days of sitting on a lot deprecating when the car can be made to order. There may be a few units at a Tesla store that are available on the lot like a conventional dealership (likely as former showroom demos and units strictly for test drives), but the a-la carte model is what they’ve adopted from European distribution models.
The other half of the equation to keeping supply controlled is keeping demand high, which Tesla hasn’t had much trouble with (be it as the ‘darling of the media spotlight’, or the endless anecdotes from owners on FB patting each other on the back for buying the same car). If people are talking about Tesla, good or bad, they’re not talking about other EV’s. It all plays nicely into Musk’s hands, even things that are related to Musk make news (Boring company, SpaceX), it fuels Tesla’s presence in the public’s mind.
It is not a tighter grip but the past inability to build the number of cars needed.
They just do not have the money for large inventories. They struggled just to get the 3 into production. Hence the pre selling of the car 2-3 years prior to a slow release.
tesla is losing money on selling $100,000+ cars how are they going to make any money on selling$35,000 cars ???
I have read that Tessa has yet to turn a profit on their cars. They make money on their stock. At some point their vehicles need to become profitable or they will become a house of cards.
they make their money selling ZEV credits to other car manufactures
Volume.
Amortize the R&D and investment on their high end models by re-using the same tech, on tens of thousands of vehicles. It’s the same economic model as all mass-manufacture producers – there are up front costs before you start to break even; then make profits.
I think people are misjudging what the model 3’s market is. It is more for the BMW M3 and M5 crowd then a true car for the masses as in working class folks. Its a shame that GM does not promote the Bolt or the Volt better. I watched Tesla’s lanuch event last night it was cool. GM needs to start copying the marketing of Apple and tech companies. It would be a better marketing campaign then they have now which is pretty nonexistent outside the cars /trucks are getting incentives.
I am not sure GM want to sell more money losing cars than needed to satisfy the ZEV credits
All of GM’s cars are money losers. They lose 14K(last I heard) per car because the labor costs are so high. Thats why GM likes their trucks and SUVs. They can make cold profit on even the lowest configuration
I am a big union supporter but yoi they have to get there act together on the labor side and reduce costs.
GM auto production went over 10 million vehicles worldwide last year, the highest volume in company history. This produced profits of $12.5 billion and profit sharing bonuses for GM workers averaging $12,000 per worker.
Seems that you don’t read the other GM Authority articles, especially the one this week where GM made billions in profits. Or you don’t care about GM or their unions and make up your own “news”..
you better tell elon because he thinks this is the car for the masses.
do you really think the m3/m5 crowd are really going to go for this? i’d think they would want a more engaging vehicle. if anything, this vehicle is for people who want an appliance.
It’s going to average $44,000. Some bug manufacturer is going to make this quality electric car for under $40,000. When that happens the EV era will be upon us. This is not that car. We are closer, though.
for $50K, i want more than an iPad on four wheels.
it is also lacking a cool factor. do you really think your friends are going to impressed with a tacky touchscreen? it looks cheap.
the interior reminds me of futuristic homes where a living room consists of two chairs and a table and everyone is wearing a government issued black turtleneck.
a lot of people complain about cars like the toyota camry as being an appliance but the model 3 has leapfrogged the competition in that regard. this is close to being a sterile pod.
Tesla’s vehicles are not money losers. The profit they gain from their vehicles goes towards investing in more manufacturing, equipment, and innovation in their vehicles. The Model S/X is a great cash flow vehicle. The profit margin is incredible. Just because tesla doesn’t have any free flowing cash, doesn’t mean it’s vehciles are profit losers. I would take the Model 3 before the Bolt, or any electric car by GM. Full LED lighting, a 15” Center Screen, and OTA updates. No GM vehicle has that capability. We also don’t know if the model 3 is more powerful that stated, as it may be a matter of software limitation. Think of it like this. There’s Two Kids, one kid has manners, and courtesy for others without being reminded, and displays it on his own, while the other needs to be reminded, and have the temporal oversight of his/her guardian. I’d choose the kid that displays respect, and courtesy without being told, and this is in correlation to adapting to electric vehicles. Gm only made the Bolt as a compliance car. They never intend to manufacture steadily at a rapid pace. While the Model 3, will outsell the Bolt in two months. Sorry, but isn’t as marketing goes, the numbers provided by consumers don’t lie, in regards to supply and demand? People on this blog site are bias, and quite blinded to electric cars coming to take over ICE’s.
“Tesla’s vehicles are not money losers” True because the losers are the buyers.
I know several Tesla owners and all of them are very happy with their cars. It’s a revolutionary company and a rare instance where an All American car is selling to folks who traditionally buy high end foreign cars. Cadillac should be so lucky.
Until you carefully inspect and drive one, all of the back seat financial analysis and mudslinging amounts to hogwash. The quality is outstanding. The tech is extremely well integrated and intuitive. What other recent start-up car company has achieved what Tesla has? You’d have to go back a half to three quarters of a century or more to see a ground up car company remain afloat and with this new car, they will reach a much wider audience and sales will increase exponentially.
I’m a hater of technology in cars but you can’t stop progress and this Model 3 is going to convert a whole lot more car buyers to electric car buyers. At this price, I’d buy one myself but might as well wait until Insanity Mode is available. A sparsely optioned Model 3 with the battery and motor upgrades will be the next chapter in the American Muscle Car story.
Zach that is not a profit base business plan.
It is called living hand to mouth and investors will tire of this at some point.
They has to presell the 3 years ahead to finish it when the x failed to bring the needed money to build the 3.
This is a slippery plan to they to survive on income to development and token goverment credits.
The margins of error is narrow and they not just want to build 10,000 cars a week they are going to need to build 10,000 cars a week and hope some one buys them with little or no rebate.
The S was as much a status symbol as anything for the rich. The 3 not so much.
I hope they do not fail because it could set back electric cars years if they fail. People will of look to electric as the thing they want if it is a symbol of failure.
This may be the Tucker of this century.
The next Honda Accord has arrived. Simple.
This is what the future looks like; be grateful it comes from Fremont and not somewhere overseas. This is a win, people.
This from CNBC: Tesla’s stock price surged on Monday, pushing the company’s value above $50 billion for the first time. The markets now value Tesla more highly than Ford at $45 billion.
At first glance, that doesn’t make any sense. Ford sold 2.6 million vehicles in 2016 and earned $4.6 billion for the year. Tesla shipped a comparatively tiny 76,000 vehicles and recorded a loss of $675 million.
The fact that Tesla stock is worth more than Ford stock is a sign that Wall Street envisions very different trajectories for the two companies. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has set aggressive growth goals for his company, aiming to produce 500,000 vehicles in 2018 and close to 1 million vehicles by 2020. But even if Musk meets these targets — and that’s a big if — that still wouldn’t justify valuing Tesla more highly than Ford, which already sells more than 2 million vehicles a year, including hundreds of thousands of highly profitable trucks.
So they recorded a $675M loss on car production. I would hardly call this profitable.
Here is what is happening here. The old automakers are seen as old tech p, low risk but slow to no growth stock.
Tesla is not seen as an automaker it is seen as a tech company that is high risk but could pay off big. Fund managers also know the Tesla constant PR draws people to their funds.
Note the old automakers are trying to become high tech either a push on electric and autonomous vehicles. The PR is not as great do less excitement.
Ford also is a high debt company with their bank loans . Also they have not cut cost like GM and others hence their stock being at the bottom rung.
The issue for Tesla is if this car under performs in the income bracket or they can not build enough of them to bring in the money to fund the next model they are in trouble.
Tech stocks valued are like buying lottery tickets. It us high risk but high pay off if you are lucky. But in many cases the people taking the risk can afford the loss.
My uncle is one of these high risk guys right now in bio tech stocks. He knows the risk but he only invest what he can afford to risk. But still if there is no return after a while he moves on.
If it was not for PT Musk and his outlandish PR moves Tesla may have already failed. But his gift is he could sell ice to an Eskimo.
But we will again see a Tesla late and under perform as they have in the past. At some point people will move on. When they do I see him merging or partnering with a automaker. There will be a spike in the stock and a large sale. Then the fund people rejoice.
Also the 600 pound gorilla in the corner is the fact Tesla has failed in China. Even in Hong Kong with rebates not one car sold. That is serious and a major problem in a slowing auto market globally.
I also forgot the 800 gorilla the dying of sedan sales in a market moving to CUV models.
Yes Tesla has one but it was problem ridden and it well under performed even by their expectations.
European countries have said they will only allow zero emission vehicles to be sold which means you’re either a hydrogen fuel cell or electric vehicle by 2040; thus it’s ground zero and given Tesla’s reputation, it’s anyone’s guess how much money Tesla is earning or losing on each Tesla Model 3 that they sell because in years past, Tesla reported losing between $7-10,000 on each Model S sold.
To be fair, GM loses about $7K for each Chevy Bolt they sell; but it’s a necessity to gain new manufacturing techniques and battery design.
That center screen looks as if it might behead someone in case of a collision… Does anyone know if this vehicle has been subjected to official crash tests already? It feels like someone would be smashing his face right in the middle of a laptop, or as if the side would carve right through someone’s neck.
This being said, the outside is much more appealing than the Bolt.
Musk’s declaration of manufacturing hell for the next 6 months, plus the fact that the first 10,000 vehicles will go to employees for essentially beta testing suggests a LOOOOONG time before they deliver to the general public with a kink-free product. With my #100,000 on the list and being from CA I recon Tesla will deliver a vehicle to me in a year. The Bolt is a very nice driving car with adequate service facilities and my current i3 lease expires in December. For those reasons, I’m out.
Add some options, and once the tax credit of $7,500 goes away, you have many other vehicles you can buy offering so much more.
Offering refundable deposits vs. accepting only non refundable deposits, does matter.
Losing the tax credit will make a big difference for Tesla, unless the Federal Government decides to extend it. Since Elon Musk backed out of Trump’s advisory councils, two months ago, Trump won’t be doing him any favors to help Tesla with sales. On the other hand, Mary Barra is doing a great job maintaining her diplomatic support for the Trump administration.
The positive relationship between Mary Barra and the Trump administration will be very good for GM and it’s shareholders.
Only becaus not just Mary, but everyone else knows how fast and simple the DipShi* can change his mind, only over a whisper. She’s friendly along with the company in hopes that they will successively lower EPA compliance standards that will lower Avg MPG for GM’s entire fleet. Among many other things. I don’t blame Elon, as it was useless from the beginning. We have major cities rallying against him, organizations making a mockery of him, countries looking at us as lesser than under our previous administration, and a society unhappy having him as president. I’ve never seen such a disruption in in transitioning presidents. Citizens are not happy, not even the Republican Party. There’s something we all need to know. We owe it to ourselves, and our country to be an American FIRST, rather than a member of either party. There’s nothing honest and truthful coming out of GM towards the administration on pure good will, nor anywhere else for that matter.
I think most of us would prefer to talk about cars on this post, not politics.
I think most of us would prefer to talk about cars on this post, not politics.
This is GM Authority, not Meet The Press.
I went to the dealership today and they had a Bolt and a Volt next to each other. Wow, what a difference. The bolt had a cheap looking interior and bland exterior and a sticker of 44k. The volt felt like a much richer car and had beautiful exterior and a sticker 10k less. I can see why the Bolt isn’t selling well. I think it was a mistake to design it in South Korea. They should focus cars like the spark that are less than 15k.
I just leased a Bolt. It’s very well done and a blast to drive. Yes, the interior has some hard plastic, but some expensive features too like a panoramic video rear view mirror. I’ve been beating the 238 mile range. The Volt is a nice car if you have a short commute, but if you drive up to 100 miles a day, you’ll be burning gas half the time, and won’t have the better performance or ride of a Bolt. The battery pack on the Bolt is at least $9000. The Volts’s is a 1/4 of that.