Does anyone else think the Tesla 3 looks like something which came from a Porsche design team? The lines of the hood/lights looks like it was lifted right from a Boxster. Looks pretty nice and priced to match.

[icdn8.digitaltrends.com]
[images.hgmsites.net]

It does have cues from the Macan, although IMNSHO the Porsche is better looking.
But I hope it sells as well or better than the Macan so my "partner" Elon and I can make a killing


Happy Tesla'ing
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

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Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

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I may push my wife in that direction in a couple of years; although, she's a Prius loyalist. She's not into cars, that is, until it comes to her Prius. I'm betting she'd be the same with a Tesla, if I could just convince her to try one.

No federal tax credits after yesterday's orders is the current guess.

And you think the wait for a Porsche is long, maybe get one in 2019 if you order now with your $1k deposit.

Co-worker ordered one online last night. "Scheduled" to get the car late 2017. Said she put down $1000 but the deposit is fully refundable.

Apparently all Elon Musk has to do is find a way for his factory to produce about a zillion more cars than his factory is currently producing.

Should be interesting.

Especially impressive given that they won't be released for another 1.5 years, maybe more.

For a thousand dollars..you to can pretend to own a bit of the future...makes great sexy water cooler talk for the next year or so, For me I will spend my thousand $ on the member only draws and hope to get some real combustion excitement.

MIKELLIG

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BLKBOXS
For a thousand dollars..you to can pretend to own a bit of the future...makes great sexy water cooler talk for the next year or so, For me I will spend my thousand $ on the member only draws and hope to get some real combustion excitement.

Exactly right and my co-worker touched upon this a bit the other day.

And some years ago I enaged in a bit of this when the new Smart car was introduced. I put my $100 (not even $1000!) "down" to get on the list for a new Smart car. Being a "part" of this gave me something to study, read up on, and discuss.

But when it came time to put up or shut up I shut up. Honestly though I decided the car wasn't for me, at least not at that time. Had I been able to get the car serviced at the local Mercedes-Benz dealer rather than at the Smart dealer 25 miles away I could have written the IIRC approx. $12,000 check to buy one. But Smart so "no way" to having the car serviced at the M-B dealer so I canceled my order and got my $100 back.

I expect when the phone call or the letter or the email comes that says it is time to formalize the order many of these early birds will back out. I do not know what the percentage was regarding the Smart car but I note its sales numbers were not spectacular so I suspect a good number of the early birds bailed.

Which is meaningful, even if a lot of people back out. And also note that that is just the number for the first few days.

If they all were to back out that's a $253 million interest-free loan to Tesla.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/04/2016 07:32PM by Boxsterra. (view changes)

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Boxsterra
Which is meaningful, even if a lot of people back out. And also note that that is just the number for the first few days.

If they all were to back out that's a $253 million interest-free loan to Tesla.

Not sure the benefit of that money on deposit can be. The loans can be called at any time so the reserve Tesla has to keep on hand is or should be quite large.

They can invest different amounts based on their guess of how long the deposits will be held and pay interest to cover the difference, if needed.

There are lots of businesses that make money via a short-term float. This has all been done before.

as a tentative deposit on a new Tesla.

Tesla can possibly invest the money but the question is can it invest it at a high enough rate of return in a safe investment vehicle (no pun) to ensure the principle is protected and to cover what it costs to have to possibly borrow the money short term to cover requests for the money back as tentative buyers change their minds and want their money back?

If the requests for refunds stay at a reasonable level, maybe.

But I think Tesla had better focus on doing what it needs to do to meet the demand -- whatever that turns out to be -- for its new model electric battery powered car and leave the short term float business to those companies that are in that business.

My inclination would be to put the money into an escrow account or some kind of account in which the principle was safe so if tomorrow everyone wanted their money back they could have it back in a reasonable -- to them -- time frame. All Tesla needs is now or in the future to have to announce it "invested" this deposit money and lost all or just some of it or just drag its feet in refunding deposits. If this happens this can set of a run -- so to speak -- on Tesla by people wanting their money back. If this should happen as quick as those deposits came flooding in the requests for refunds will make that seem like a trickle by comparison.

In fact, I wonder if the money is taken in as a deposit, does that even give Tesla any right to use the money any old way it wants? Laws/regulations may require it treat the money as not its own but as still belonging to those who deposited it and thus Tesla is restricted in what it can do with the money.

Regardless, I repeat Tesla had better focus on its real business -- making electric battery powered cars at a suitable profit level (currently I believe its EPS is in negative territory) -- and meeting the demand for it new model that generated all this deposit activity in the first place.

Tesla is a big company. They are not distracted from their core competencies by being smart with their money. And not being smart with your money is being foolish.

Those deposits are allowing the company to stay in business:
[blogs.wsj.com]

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boxtaboy
Those deposits are allowing the company to stay in business:
[blogs.wsj.com]

With the amount of cash they've been burning, the deposits are effectively chump change.
As Mark suggested, their efforts should be concentrated on getting sufficient numbers of product out the door before they have to return to their investors for more $.

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Boxsterra
Especially impressive given that they won't be released for another 1.5 years, maybe more.

In addition, people are making a deposit on a car they really know nothing about. Looks, yes. What about performance, carrying space and the big one - operating range on a charge and how long it takes to charge a battery. A rough guess, it would likely take me 3 days to make my normal 1 day drive to BRBS to allow for battery recharging?

Here in Canada, there'd be a lot of battery drain during winter for heating, defrosting, full lighting system and drop in battery capacity in cold temperatures, which would really cut into the driving range.

Florida, I would imagine that there'd be quite a bit of battery drain for AC in the May - October time.

I guess I just don't understand anyone shelling out $42,000 US (average expected price) for a vehicle they haven't even driven to see if it really suits their needs. I suppose it's OK if you have money to burn.

as the story now is that priority goes to those who have already bought another of the $70k to $140k Tesla's models.

Performance is known, range is known, even space is known. Test drives for selected reporters in the pre-production cars have been done.

A Tesla doesn't fit my needs/wants. But I'm glad someone is shaking up the automotive status quo.