My delivery pushed back up to 3 months

Kinda wish Tesla would stop delivering all vehicles in the U.S. once they got to U.S. vehicle number 199,999, then hold off for about 6-12 months until the first day of a quarter when they can produce the Model 3 in large volume. They could sell to international markets in the meantime. Then when they come back on line in the U.S. for sales, a lot more customers would get the full and partial federal tax credits because they would be able to sell thousands more vehicles a month with manufacturing more up to speed.

 

(Most of) the current estimates will be contingent upon the automation hardware currently in Germany being transported, assembled, and activated next month: Tesla's Model 3 production targets are now in German hands - Roadshow

 

understandable, i think. patience is a virtue, and will pay off in the long run.

 

IIRC, a couple of high level folks involved in this part of the equation recently quit. Speculation quickly leaps to mind, we're they let go for not meeting goals, were they getting out before the production shat hits the fan (current events) or....? Unless they publicly break their silence (highly unlikely if they want to find another job), we'll never know.

 

how long after the ordering window began did you put in your deposit? As of yesterday, non-owners have begun getting their notices if permission to configure. That's very promising, as it means that all of the existing owners who want to configure have already inputted their orders.

 

I suspect many of the existing owners have chosen to wait for the all wheel drive.

 

the good news is - as of 2 days ago, non-owners are in the post configuration - build phase. Folks that were w/in the 1st few dozen that got in the doors (brick n mortar - stores) 1st hour upon opening the doors are now being told (after they configure), "expect delivery w/in 3 to 6 weeks" & "get your financing ready" etc.
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You wouldn't get the full range if it only cost about $5,000 (9k upgrade cost minus 4k you'd lose out on the tax credit)?

I'm thinking at this point I'd probably rather have the short range, but if it only "costs" $5k for long range I'm definitely willing to pay that.

 

I get your point, but I also worry about resale value if I get the short range version. With EV ranges getting longer and longer will anyone want a 220 mile range vehicle in 5-7 years (which could be closer to 200 mile range by then due to degradation, yes I understand Tesla degrades very slowly)? Yes, some will, but I have to think the buyer pool will be quite a bit smaller than what the long range would be.
Factoring in stuff like that makes the calculation a bit more complicated.

 

Anybody buying a used electrical vehicle in 5-7 years would be replacing the battery, and they could opt for the larger one.

 

that's quite a generalization - considering there are a bunch of model S's now 5 & 6yrs old, & some already at a ¼million miles & more ... showing between 5% - 10% capacity loss. That means you'd still have a range of >230 miles.
Saying "some" would be replacing the battery - is less a stretch, than saying, "anybody" would be replacing the battery. That's the difference though, between one plug-in or another. It turns on whether one is driving a Leaf vs Tesla .... and we drive both.
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That's a ridiculous comment and a twist/corruption of the truth fitting of your screenname.

 

Live and learn, having read that tesla was offering stations that switched out batteries "useful" for cross country driving, I assumed...So, the 3's battery isn't going to be plug and play but with difficulty can be changed, it also isn't going to be charged autonomously but only by plugging in, and yes, last but not least, tesla uses liquid cooling to extend the useful life of the batteries, the 3 of course will heat it's battery via the drive train, useful info.

 

We don't know if the 3 could work with Tesla's battery swapping, because Tesla closed their only swapping location due to lack of interest from car owners.