Featured Model 3 has 310 mile range

$7 or 8k isn't priced right? You can get a recent low mileage Leaf for that much. And yes and no to the old technology part. They have quite a bit of tech but zero autonomy (until the new ones). And let's not forget that battery progress isn't on an exponential growth curve like regular technology since it is chemical in nature. I didn't think about that until I heard Elon say that in a recent talk.

 

i was talking new. yes, used prices are spectacular on most plug ins.

 

Still...it would be interesting to see what unrestricted (time/miles) type vehicles the majority of people really drive when our great grand kids are adults.

 

will they be driving?

 

They will be driven by self driving vehicles through Musk's tunnels.

 

Thanks to junk food most people don't even have to cook...now we won't have to drive either?

 

Sure, that is why SUVs and Trucks are so popular. I borrowed a friends 30 year old tacoma, recently to move a bunch of stuff in one trip, that would have taken me 4 in the prius ;-) As to popularity, hatchbacks are predicted to be about 3.5% of the new vehicle market this year which is up, while cars with trunks will be about 35% of the market, and trucks/crossovers/SUVs account for 62% (rounding makes this 100.5% ;-)). Really cowboy (my dog) is quite happy in the backseat of my prius with the windows open, but can only go a couple miles when there is anouther dog back there. I was talking mainly about wants and sales of the car market. I bought a hatch, despite wanting a trunk, but I couldn't get a prius with a trunk. Today the camry hybrid is better so I would have bought that, or the fusion, but will get a model 3.

This is mainly to point out what the market wants versus individuals. If you are part of that 3.5% in the US, you should be able to buy what you want. But if you were trying to sell a lot of bevs - the model 3, and the future model Y are the sweet spot of the market.
Tesla Model Y release date, news and rumors | TechRadar
My guess is the base model 3 will increase the battery to what ever size the model Y needs to be 200 miles epa, when the Y comes out to share the battery, and hit a magic number for the Y. If tesla is smart they will look at rav4, crv, and escape, and build that on top of a model 3 base.

I don't expect the Y to ship in volume until 2020. That leaves lots of time for someone to come out with a awd, 40 mile, phev, crossover for about $40K.

 

As most of you know, Tesla and Toyota did team up with a short run of RAV4 EVs...of course available only in those "special" States. They were not allowed for use/registration in Texas though...I tried.

So in the mean time...the Wife's new RAV4 Hybrid arrived at Dealership Thursday. Delivery is Monday or Tuesday after our chosen Dealer options are installed. It's a proven Toyota vehicle with proven technology and I got it for under the "average" car price discussed here. No logistical limitations and "Legal" even says I can tow with it...not that it would stop me.

To each their own.

 

Who didn't allow use/registration in Texas?

Full faith and credit clause should allow it on a legal level.

Now, Toyota was well within their rights to not sell the car outside of ZEV states, but that doesn't prevent exporting the vehicle from a ZEV state after initial registration.

 

Toyota told me that no one in my state - Texas - would service it. It is street legal in Texas. You could not buy from a toyota dealer in california for delivery in texas and get the same price without registering in California, it was much much more expensive. I asked when they were discounting them, those discounts did not apply to people like me ;-)

Yes, but look at the huge hassle of doing such. You need a resident in california to buy it, and act as a conduit for you. They have to be high income enough to take the tax credits because they aren't transferable. Then you need to somehow get it to California to service it. It could be done, but toyota put up huge barriers to doing so. It was pretty clear talking to toyota they didn't really want to sell the rav4 ev, except for a handful of sales people. They were doing it simply to comply with ZEV regulations, without buying credits from Tesla or Nissan.
Now tesla will sell me (with the hassle of standing in line the first day) a car at the same price as they will sell it to someone in California. It is warranted, and even has a service center close to home that will fix it, or send someone out to fix it. I don't get the additional california incentives, but I still do get the federal tax credit, charging network, etc. They seem to genuinely want to sell BEVs, but would rather sell the S or X, because they can't make the model 3 fast enough.

 

Yeah, that would be a colossal hurdle, you'd be on your own for service (you might be able to order parts).

Interestingly, the Fiat 500e, which is just as compliancey (obviously not what you're looking for, but relevant to the discussion of owning an EV in a state where it's not sold), can get serviced anywhere (with FCA flying techs to dealers as needed).

 

Will the service on a $35k car be the same as on a $70k+ car? (Will they really come to you and for how long?) What are the real policy differences aside from the use/charge for the supercharger?

Saw a different Model S on consecutive days this week. Black and then grey, both the newer style front ends. Coming from/to the Pinehurst area to/from Raleigh. There are 2 chargers at the Pinehurst Resort for guests only.

 

Very good questions!
We don't know for sure at this point.
What we do know is what Tesla has stated about their goals for the Model 3 and what we know about Tesla's support network.

Tesla has stated that the Model 3 was designed and engineered to be easier, quicker and less expensive to build than either the Model S or especially the Model X.
We know the service centers have a limited capacity. Tesla has made a number of improvements to existing service centers to service cars more quickly and they are building more.
The more reliable the Model 3 is, the less time they will be in the service center. I am sure Tesla has considered this.

Based on this information, my guess would be that service calls will be very few outside of the first production runs. I would guess that the number of service visits per vehicle will start high, but each month that will be cut in half.

I would also guess that Tesla will approach, but not achieve Toyota's reliability.

 

Actually saw a 500e for sale at the dealer I pass last week.

Does BMW service centers treat 3 series and 7 series owners differently? Tesla sees the Model 3 as an upscale model still; not like a Chevy or Toyota.

 

duno ... but we got extended service contracts for everything from Lexus, to Range Rover, to our Prius. It's true they are a crapshoot turning on whether junk breaks on them or not. we took the chance, got contracts for all 3, & it ended up being the 3 service contracts paid for themselves because of the nature of breakage. As for ev's - 'service' ... i guess they check fir brake wear & such. But you can do that yourself, too. BMW actually puts the cost of years of service, built right into the new car.
.

 

Back in the '70s (gasp) when Audi was just being introduced, I made the mistake of buying a Porsche. Dealers were used to and sized to deal with a limited number of higher priced cars (the new ones were in the $3500 range, double gasp). The dealer's real estate was tiny. The number of mechanics and their training and parts ordering weren't sized to deal with first year of introduction issues. Parts availability were difficult. Loved the car, sold it a week before the 2 year warranty ran out and never again had to endure the coworkers jibes that the dealer had a parking spot with my name on it again.

The next first year car I had (Plymouth Horizon) the transmission fell off and, out my rear view mirror, I saw pieces of my car following me down the road for a few yards.

The next first year car I had (Nissan) both the hood and the trunk had rusted within a year.

Even though these cars were made in 3 different countries, these cars had one thing in common, they were great/new/different in concept.

So forgive me for being skeptical.

 

Actually, the Plymouth Horizon had the Volkswagen Rabbit engine. ( I had a Dodge Omni 024 for about 9 months during that time.) That engine had been out for some time but Chrysler much have butchered it.

 

I think the short block was from VW with the ancillaries Chrysler. Nothing wrong with the engine in mine, just the way Chrysler had bolted things together. Dodge Grand Caravan had a Mitubishi engine known for valve fouling. Replacement engine lasted one trip and 900 miles before it had to be replaced. But boy was it comfortable on long trips, my longest was 1300 miles in one day with me as solo driver.

Something to be said for Toyota doing their proof of concepts in their home country and later introducing it here. Very few problems with 5 of them, one in the 150k mile range now.

 

Something tells me that "if" Toyota determines that BEVs will become a viable supported market...they will put out a good product.

 

can't say that enough times.