Any reason to buy anything else but a Model 3?

No. There is a phase out but by the time Tesla starts making the $35k version (if there is ever such an animal) in meaningful numbers, the credit should be zero or peanuts by then.

"A 16-to-18-Month Phase Out Process
Even when an OEM crosses the 200,000 mark, the phase out process could take anywhere from sixteen to eighteen months before the credit is zeroed out."

Plugless | Tesla or GM, who will lose the $7500 tax credit first?

 

Might be better to own one after the initial 200,000 because by then the reliability will be higher. It's not easy to transition from basically hand-crafted vehicles to mass produced. I think Tesla will pull it off but there will be a learning curve and I don't think I would want to have one of the first cars off the line.

 

I would not buy on their goal of level 5 autopilot.
We will be buying one, expected in early 2018. Ours will be either the 35k or 39k version.
We will wait to until the car has the autopilot software to pay for it.
Which, in my mind, is another reason to buy it.
I can buy the car today and upgrade it in the future extremely easily.

In my experience:
The reliability has been good, although I expect a few shake down issues buying within the first year of the Model.
It meets 100% of my driving needs, both local and national.
It meets 98% of our families driving needs.
Service is easy and convenient.

 

I would assume the $7500 credit could easily be extended as the political tides shift. If we know anything, we know we don't know what's going happen next. Actually judging from Ca. there is trend to keep extending the incentives, that I am anticipating as the base case now.

 

. Once each manufacturer (OEM) reaches 200,000 cumulative U.S. sales of all of its EVs (from 2010 onward) the phase out process begins.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Hold on! Does the fact it gets 375 miles out of a charge if you get the big battery and base wheels change anything?

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

I want one. I'm a serial early adopter and can afford one. I recycle, have installed LED lighting, drive a hybred. Heck, there are 3 Prius cars in my immediate family.

But I can't get a Model 3 for years. And In my opinion even that projection is in doubt every time Tesla announces a new project. The company has limited resources and now wants to do two more models in the next few years (truck and that beautiful roadster) sucking talent from what is already a limited talent talent and managerial pool.

And most times I plot a route that takes me to someplace outside the range where my home charger would allow me to go with reasonable reserve, I find no convenient super chargers. For me an EV would cover 90%+ of my trips, but only 40-60% of my miles.

I've had a disabling car failure in the last few months and have come to appreciate owning a brand with thousands of dealerships and tens of thousands of mechanics. I own a brand whose dealer is maybe 3 miles from my house. For many brands (including ones I'd consider) the nearest dealer service is 50+ miles away. Service availability is one of the reasons I sold a high end car that had been utterly reliable to me and bought somewhat on service convenience.

Your opinion may differ as may your circumstances. Isn't it wonderful we have choices.

 

I may be somewhat isolated in this thinking.
But even imagining that self driving technology was proven, tested and fully vetted and it was simply a matter of investment and ownership and usage, I'm not sure I'd want a self driving car.

I like driving. I suppose to get from point A to point B conveniently IS a huge reason I enjoy owning a vehicle, but I also tangibly like grabbing the steering wheel, starting the engine and actually driving the vehicle.

Guess I'm "working class", the idea of a machine that is Robo-Chauffeur, doesn't appeal to me.

 

You could play "Grand Theft Auto" while the car transports you from A to B. <grins>

Better still, a future release with the new Tesla Roadster. Just hold off on Harry Potter videos.

Bob Wilson

 

I prefer not using auto pilot, except in rush hour.
Getting home in rush hour is so much less stressful.

 

Jeremy Clarkson says self-driving car could have killed him

 

Not bothering to read it, but someday a self driving car will kill someone. Of course, manually driven cars kill ~30,000 annually, in the US alone.

 

we should be so lucky.

 

More like 35-40k the last few years. Can you imagine the trillions and trillions of dollars the government would throw at the military if they knew it could prevent that many casualties on an annual basis on domestic soil?

 

Yep, some will look at the number of people killed and not how many less people are killed on average.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

madd should be pushing it aggressively.

 

I'll bet the fines for driving a driverless car are more than drunk driving.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

no doubt, knowing congress.

 

Here on PC - you'll find a very wide variety of users. We had our Prius many years before most, a 2004, purchased right at the end of the year. You should have heard all the naysayers back then. But we gently & kindly convinced many that this is the future. Even so, you will find many here that are not so easily convinced - & don't mind being very vocal with their fud (fear/uncertainty/doubt) & despite sitting in the minority - they're still more than welcome to give their opinions. kindness goes a lot further than browbeating those who don't fit the minority mold ;

he means, "for me" ... himself - as 1,000's & 1,000s of owners that have already proven they can easily drive multi state trips with no issue ... but that's ok - for him - though existing owners grasp that after 3 or 4 hours straight driving is taxing for most & thus, they're plenty ready to stop & eat & stretch & do nature calls but not him -

he means "for me" .... himself - as roughly a ¼ million owners worldwide already have the more expensive models, & over 400k are signed up & are receiving the less-expensive models ... but that's okay, for him ...

yep - & yet tesla owners - despite their cars earlier warts - which are continuously being worked out - owners still give their rides the highest satisfaction marks ... & again thats ok - for him - to be in the minority. We all figure out what works best for us, and we can all see from statistics what works best for most .... Whether it be a hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or e v.

.

 

I stop every hour and a half or so. But most are for under 15 minutes at rest areas. Those that aren't are for meals and I've only once found a Supercharger near where I was eating (Hays Kansas). This trip the Supercharger was 2 miles from the restaurant (Las Vegas New Mexico where it was inexplicably at a hotel where all that's needed is a destination L2 charger) . Further, that was the last place to charge along my route to the Carlsbad Caverns (crazy spectacular, by the way), Supercharger, L2 or even L1. And it was 600 miles back to that Supercharger.