The Model 3 is supposed to start at $35,000. Demand doesn't seem to be a problem, as they have hundreds of thousands of reservations and pretty much stopped trying to solicit more while they work through the backlog. The major challenge for now is actually getting production up to capacity.
> The $35,000 (before federal tax credits) Model 3 sedan made its world debut at an event in Los Angeles. On stage, Elon Musk announced that the car will have at least 215 miles of range, 0-60 in under six seconds, and every single one will have Supercharging as a standard feature.
The $35k Model 3 hit Tesla's webpage with "2-to-4-weeks of delivery" in late Febuary. Its April, and no one has this car yet.
> Tesla says that deliveries are starting within the next 2 to 4 weeks depending on the configuration in the US.
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If you trick a bunch of people to come and try to buy a product that DOES NOT EXIST YET, and then convince them to buy something else when they enter the store... that's called a "Bait and Switch". Its literally an illegal sales tactic. Tesla isn't doing it to the point where it is illegal, but it is still clearly scummy behavior and toes the line.
People are coming to the Tesla stores looking for the $35k model, and are immediately being upsold to buy $40k or $45k vehicles instead. The 35k model is the bait, the $40k to $45k models are the switch.
Just a small correction, Model 3 performance starts at $56k. I don't like that Tesla lists price with $4.3k in "fuel savings" subtracted out, we have to call them out on that.
Model 3 was hyped as $35k car, with an additional $7.5k tax credit on top of that for early adopters. In reality it's $45-50k car. What they do offer for $35k is purely to tick the box (and also when it finally arrived tax breaks were long gone for Tesla).
If history repeats itself this new model will be first true $35k Tesla.
I'm sorry, but you are simply rewriting history. As late as July 2017 (when the Model 3 launched), Tesla was claiming that the base model would be available that year (https://electrek.co/2017/07/29/tesla-model-3-production-spec...). They had been saying the same thing (that a $35,000 would exist and be available in 2017 for the previous 3 years).
I believe Tesla when they say they are production constrained. I don't know why people commonly accuse them of lying with no proof. Changing prices is not proof.
It's true they have changed prices quite a bit. They have had many conflicting adjustments to work around. The phase out of the tax credits (at the beginning of the 2019 and in the middle of the year), the promise to deliver a $35,000 sedan. Also Models S/X demand has fluctuated due to osbourne effect, and model 3 cannibalization.
Furthermore, they have raised prices. The model 3 starts at $39,490. Up from a low of $35,000.
Website only lists a subset of prices and they go back and forth on this over time.
It wasn’t until February 2019 that the $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Standard Range became available. Less than two months later, Tesla announced that the Standard Range model would no longer be available for order on its website, though buyers could still order it “off-menu,” either in a Tesla store or over the phone.
$78k is their most expensive version. The cheapest Model 3 you can get now is RWD + premium interior (no standard interior offered yet) + long range battery = $49k. Tesla still says that base version should come at $35k some time next year.
Looks like the first production cars will start at $49k, with no $35k cars available until November.
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