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Old 1st April 2016, 18:17   #46
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re: The Tesla Model 3, a $35,000 sedan. EDIT: Specs revealed & deliveries begin

I think Tesla has hit this out of the park with the pricing and range of Tesla 3. It raked in 134,000 reservations on Thursday! Keep in mind that the $35,000 price tag comes down substantially when you add in the tax rebates, which alone can add up to $10K, varying from state to state.
I almost pictured long queues of T3s at charging stations across the country in a couple of years but then I realized that Musk is a smart businessman and he will probably not go into mass production without mass support.
And 0 - 60 mph in less than 6 seconds! I see this car beating Camrys and Accords in Value for Money bracket, and also beating entry level BMW 3s and Mercs in the performance bracket!
Exciting times i must say!
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Old 1st April 2016, 18:23   #47
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re: The Tesla Model 3, a $35,000 sedan. EDIT: Specs revealed & deliveries begin

Quote:
Originally Posted by sreeharipv View Post
  • This car doesn't need a huge service network because of the inherent simplicity of the drive train and considerably fewer moving components. The service intervals are much much wider than a gasoline car.
While I get what you're trying to say, I disagree with your point.

Service NETWORK has nothing to do with:
a) How often the car breaks down
b) How mechanically simple it is
c) How long the service intervals are

The only thing the extent of the service network governs is :
- How far a car owner has to travel in order to have his car serviced or repaired.

Quote:
Originally Posted by sreeharipv View Post
  • Charging infrastructure is no big deal. One super charging location between all major city pairs would do just to start with. They don't cost all that much. And unlike North America, we don't drive half as much on a weekly basis. One full charge is easily 1-2 weeks for most.
Excellent point! Some interesting data:
  • America's road network : 6,586,610 km
  • India's road network : 4,865,000 km*

* What really surprised me was that India has the 2nd largest road network in the world! (Source) However, the fine print mentions paved and unpaved

If we look at the length of expressways (a skewed metric, in this case):
  • America : 77,017 km
  • India : 1,324 km

Perhaps a better comparo is to look at the overall size of the countries:
  • America : 9,147,420 sq-km
  • India : 3,287,590 sq-km

Last edited by Rehaan : 1st April 2016 at 18:33.
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Old 1st April 2016, 18:54   #48
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re: The Tesla Model 3, a $35,000 sedan. EDIT: Specs revealed & deliveries begin

Quote:
Originally Posted by volkman10 View Post
Some more info on the 'near' production built Model 3
I don't like the styling. Just getting rid of the grill with sheet metal yet retaining the overall nose design looks like an afterthought. It is almost like the low end Indian cars with a plastic cap where the fog lamps would have been.
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Old 1st April 2016, 19:01   #49
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re: The Tesla Model 3, a $35,000 sedan. EDIT: Specs revealed & deliveries begin

Here's another interesting possible-fact. Remember when they announced the Model E...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rehaan View Post
Quote:
E doesn't stand for anything I think, neither does S or X.
So you're telling me Model S, E or X don't stand for anything? Hmmm..
Well, it turns out Ford owns the term Model E - and hence Tesla couldn't use it.

So instead, now they have Models S, 3, X.
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Old 1st April 2016, 19:39   #50
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re: The Tesla Model 3, a $35,000 sedan. EDIT: Specs revealed & deliveries begin

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rehaan View Post
While I get what you're trying to say, I disagree with your point.

Service NETWORK has nothing to do with:
a) How often the car breaks down
b) How mechanically simple it is
c) How long the service intervals are

The only thing the extent of the service network governs is :
- How far a car owner has to travel in order to have his car serviced or repaired.
+1 to the above point.

Though driving a Tesla in LA or California does make sense. I am not sure the same would work with the tropical climates and the dust and poor road conditions commonly available across India.

I personally am a Tesla and Elon Musk Fan. So not being very critical, but few details from Internet makes me feel that a built to cost Tesla in India would suffer huge set of problems.

Some problems indicated in Tesla Model S in consumer reports is indicated below. I have avoided citing the issues with the retractable handles because they are not present in the 3.

Quote
"Overall, squeaks and rattles appear to be the most prevalent complaint. But as one respondent commented, "The car is so very silent when driving that minor squeaks and rattles that you wouldn't be able to hear in a gasoline engine car become very annoying."

The list of issues also includes more significant problems, which could be pricey to fix once out of warranty. Based on survey responses, Tesla has made a habit of replacing the car’s electric motors. The brake rotors tend to warp.

Other problem areas include:
Inoperable wipers
Leaking battery cooling pumps
Out-of-alignment trunk and hatchback latches
Persistent wheel-alignment issues
Unquote.

The drivetrain issues could get aggravated with the road conditions we have.

Source
http://www.consumerreports.org/cars/...h-performance/
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Old 1st April 2016, 20:18   #51
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re: The Tesla Model 3, a $35,000 sedan. EDIT: Specs revealed & deliveries begin

Quote:
Originally Posted by Guna View Post
I don't like the styling. Just getting rid of the grill with sheet metal yet retaining the overall nose design looks like an afterthought. It is almost like the low end Indian cars with a plastic cap where the fog lamps would have been.
Come to think of it, why does an all electric car even need the traditional huge front grill? I think removing the grill entirely is a bold move and makes Tesla 3 stand out in the crowd. The Model S these days seems to blend in with all the other regular sedans.
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Old 1st April 2016, 20:20   #52
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The Tesla Model 3, a $35,000 sedan. Bookings accepted from India!

I also booked Tesla 3 last night using their website. Expecting to get the booking number by today. As of now it has crossed 150k bookings already.

Edit: booking is done in USA.
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Old 1st April 2016, 21:25   #53
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re: The Tesla Model 3, a $35,000 sedan. EDIT: Specs revealed & deliveries begin

Quote:
Originally Posted by amitoj View Post
Come to think of it, why does an all electric car even need the traditional huge front grill? I think removing the grill entirely is a bold move and makes Tesla 3 stand out in the crowd. The Model S these days seems to blend in with all the other regular sedans.
Yes not having the grill is logical and I did not like the grill on the earlier Tesla's and our own Reva 2. But I was pointing out that the car could have been designed for 'no frill' rather then looking like the grill has been closed.
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Old 1st April 2016, 22:49   #54
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Booked one finally this morning. The website was down for sometime so had some trouble booking initially. I believe it's 60% import duty + other charges so could be within 50L. Its going to be long wait till 2018
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Old 1st April 2016, 22:54   #55
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re: The Tesla Model 3, a $35,000 sedan. EDIT: Specs revealed & deliveries begin

Autoblog's Sebastian gets a drive in Tesla Model 3:



Initial impressions:

Quote:
Tesla's impressive vertical touchscreen from the Model S and X has been transformed into a horizontal screen that dominates the dashboard in the 3. I only saw the navigation map screen with some music details on the right side. It looked impressive and functional, just like the screens in Tesla's other models, but I didn't get to interact with it at all.

I want to experience the 3 in daylight, to see if the giant glass top is a good idea. When I drove the Model X recently, I was glad that it had an aftermarket tint on the giant glass canopy above the front seats, because sometimes you just want a bit of protection from the sun. To have basically the entire roof be made of glass, well, I'm not sure that's ideal. Maybe this is a way for Tesla to sell more branded hats. At night, though, and on cloudy days, glass this big just screams spaciousness, and it's amazing. Luckily, the 3's all-glass top is an option, and not one I'd choose.
Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2016/04/01/t...t-ride-review/
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Old 1st April 2016, 23:33   #56
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I really think the model s has a good market in india too. The pricing and the looks and interiors all means a lot of car makers will have to up their game.

Also for bhpians having doubts with regards to service and charging, this was the same concern in the states when they launched the model s. Today that's no more of a issue. Give them time as they have lots of fights happening in many corners. Hoping they hit their timelines!

OPEC... Lol!

Maddy
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Old 2nd April 2016, 00:10   #57
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re: The Tesla Model 3, a $35,000 sedan. EDIT: Specs revealed & deliveries begin

I am kind of disappointed with this Model 3 looks both interior as well as exterior.

The exterior i thought Tesla wanted to compete against the BMW 3 series likes, but it is somehow looking like a competitor to the 3GT instead.

Where as the interior is just too plain futuristically basic, but I'm hoping that this is still in conceptual stage & we will see a busier interior, if not at least a speedometer / instrument cluster

Last edited by karan561 : 2nd April 2016 at 00:24.
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Old 2nd April 2016, 01:52   #58
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re: The Tesla Model 3, a $35,000 sedan. EDIT: Specs revealed & deliveries begin

A very interesting move from the company. Will be looking forward to see how this pans out, because Tesla has zero footprint in India as of now. For a mass market car like the model 3 to be a success, they will need a reasonable network of Superchargers and destination chargers that they have already established well in the West, and in parts of Asia.

Having closely followed Tesla for a long time now, I've always been wondering if present day manufacturers are working on technology that would become obsolete eventually (read: gasoline engines): Just a thought. The kind of features and performance that Tesla is bringing out in its vehicles is just amazing. With their Gigafactory in place, and with 100 KwH battery packs in the pipeline, it won't be long before they extract 300+ miles range from their models (which the high end model 3 will most likely get). Exciting times ahead!
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Old 2nd April 2016, 01:58   #59
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re: The Tesla Model 3, a $35,000 sedan. EDIT: Specs revealed & deliveries begin

Quote:
Originally Posted by karan561 View Post
I am kind of disappointed with this Model 3 looks both interior as well as exterior.

The exterior i thought Tesla wanted to compete against the BMW 3 series likes, but it is somehow looking like a competitor to the 3GT instead.

Where as the interior is just too plain futuristically basic, but I'm hoping that this is still in conceptual stage & we will see a busier interior, if not at least a speedometer / instrument cluster
Don't worry, this will not be the interior that makes it to production. Tesla almost never shows the interiors during unveil. They showed something similar during the Model X's unveil, and what happened during the actual release is history
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Old 2nd April 2016, 03:43   #60
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re: The Tesla Model 3, a $35,000 sedan. EDIT: Specs revealed & deliveries begin

Quote:
Originally Posted by motorhead16 View Post
While your argument about electric cars being not so "green" is absolutely true, the declaration that Tesla's products are rubbish underneath is completely judgmental and there is a massive amount of engineering that goes into building these cars, the likes of which nobody else has done so far in the automotive industry.
I know of someone who was one of the first ones to buy a Model S here. He had the car for around 6 months before selling it. Reason? NO customer service infrastructure (in this country at least) outside the bigger cities in the east coast. No superchargers. No dealers. No after sales service network. No roadside assistance. Nothing. (See map below). Several things went wrong with the car - reversing lights were working intermittently, the indicator stalk malfunctioned and the range was well short of what was advertised (Tesla said this was due to the way he was charging it, which is utter nonsense). Emails to Tesla were not answered. Phone calls were returned only after several days. He had to send the car to Melbourne by truck to the Tesla store to get it fixed. Yes, the car was sorted out but it took 6 weeks - and Tesla refused to pay for the transport charges to and from Adelaide. All in all not a stellar customer experience that is hyped by the company. Certainly not something that I would expect after buying a $160,000 car, so yes, I am judgemental. Heck, I get better customer service at my local Jeep dealership than Tesla!

Tesla have been here since 2008 and in all these years, even with generous incentives - have not expanded their network, they seem to think people only live in 2 cities in this country. If that is their attitude in a so-called "developed" country, imagine what their attitude will be elsewhere.

Quote:
Originally Posted by aim120 View Post
FYI,Tesla in all their cars (roadster,model S,X and III )don't use magnets in their motor,rather they use a Induction Motor.
From the name of the company which is after Nikola Tesla ,whose invention was the AC induction motor.
Apart from speakers ,they don't use magnets .Only electro magnets are used .
Thanks for that. Was not aware that magnets are not used in their cars. However, rare earth metals might still be used elsewhere (just like non EVs - in speakers, the on-board electronics etc.).

On another note - the BYD Qin EV300 has been made available in the Chinese market (at 15,800 Yuan - which is roughly US$24,000). It is available to the Chinese public yesterday (not 2018). It offers a 300 km range. Of course it does not have the power of American marketing behind it and will no doubt be the target of the usual automotive prejudices, but arguably BYD has a lot more automotive experience than Tesla. For people who place importance on value-for-money, companies like BYD may very well help shape the EV market in the future.

http://www.carnewschina.com/2016/04/...se-car-market/
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