Who is plunking down $1k?

europeans also have much higher taxes and prices on cars in general. don't forget that the model S is also a huge car for them.

 

Well if a European is going to buy a Model S, taxes should not be of concern, since the Model S sells at a higher price then in the U.S.A The rich of Europe like to drive big cars....S550, 7series, Range Rover, Maybach, Roll Royce........

 

But that logic doesn't follow actual history. Even as prius sales tanked last year (2015) - Tesla sales (50,000 units) soared, breaking all their previous records, despite low gas prices. Low tesla sales in the eu are just as likely due to production constraints, but with the opening of the gigafactory, supply may really take off.
If hybrid /plugin taxes in the eu are going to kill off anything, it'll be the Mirai, due to its mediocre power, limited 4 passenger seating, and already costing over $100K. THEN, if oil shoots back up over $100/bbl, hydrogen from fossil fuel costs would likely go up even more, from costing $15 per 100miles to $30 per 100 miles.
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Spin can be manipulated any way you like. According to this article, EV sales increased 71% in Norway from the previous year. EVs as market share grew to 18.7% of new vehicles in Norway which was the number nation for purchasing EV in Europe but was surpassed by Denmark last year.
Norway Electric Car Sales Grow 71% In 2015 | CleanTechnica

 

That's the gist of my post #163.
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cnn article yesterday citing some numbers, showing that most model 3 buyers will not get the fed tax rebate.

 

This one, perhaps:

Most Tesla Model 3 buyers won't get the $7,500 tax break - Apr. 6, 2016

More than 40% of car buyers interested in a Model 3 told a KBB survey that they wouldn't buy a one without the tax credit.

Assuming the rest of the pre-orders go through to completions and this survey is correct, that's still a huge number of sales for the model 3 for this emerging market.

 

yes, thank you. i'm just wondering if all their numbers are correct, realizing that most everything are estimates and projections.

 

In answer to the OP, the answer appears to be 325,000 of us wild and crazy guys and gals:

The Week that Electric Vehicles Went Mainstream | Tesla Motors

"A week ago, we started taking reservations for Model 3, and the excitement has been incredible. We’ve now received more than 325,000 reservations, which corresponds to about $14 billion in implied future sales, making this the single biggest one-week launch of any product ever. This interest has spread completely organically. Unlike other major product launches, we haven’t advertised or paid for any endorsements. Instead, this has been a true grassroots effort driven by the passion of the Tesla team that’s worked so hard to get to this point and our current and future customers who believe so strongly in what we are trying to achieve. Most importantly, we are all taking a huge step towards a better future by accelerating the transition to sustainable transportation.

We want to thank everyone who has shown their faith in Tesla and the mission of electric vehicles. We would write more, but we need to get back to increasing our Model 3 production plans!"

 

A drop from 122,776 the year before to 113,829 last year is hardly "tanked" in any perspective. That's only 7.3%

It was expected too. With a generation running that many years and growing anticipation for the next, it was remarkable that there wasn't a much greater percentage.

 

don't expect reason from haters.

 

or lovers?

 

ggood point.

 

I look at everything as a price to pay. For example, in 2010 when I bought my Prius, a base PriusII cost about 22k and fully loaded Prius V ATP cost 34k. That's an increase of 12k. For the price of 12k, it has radar cruise control and PCS. I ask myself how much would I pay to make my highway driving more relaxing? How much would I pay to avoid an at fault frontal collision? So far, I have avoided 3 frontal collisions that would have been my fault since owning the Prius. 1 is avoidable even without PCS, 1 would have major repair cost and 1 would have totaled my Prius had it not for PCS.
Now for model 3 compare to the Prius, how much would you pay to for self driving car? How much would you pay for all electronic driving? How much would you you pay for not pissing off other drivers for driving too slow because you're trying to get that 80mpg for the tank? Take performance alone. Gather all cars that do 0-60 in 5 to 6 seconds and compare the cost. Gather all cars that have self driving and compare the cost. Just saying.

 

Good points.

But it should be noted that no one can purchase such a car at current Prius price points and Tesla won't have this car out in any significant quantity for at least a couple years. By then, like most things technology, many will offer advanced features at similar price points.

Then there's also the Apple car and maybe Google car that we should include to be fair, as these cant be purchased yet either.

 

that's what they said after the first batch of green stickers dried up. Then before you know it they re legislated another batch.

 

agreed, could happen.

 

umm..is that not what I said??

 

California's government moves at a very different pace than the federal government.