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Tesla announces $35,000 Model 3, is closing its stores to pay for it
On Thursday afternoon, Tesla announced that it's finally ready to start selling the cheapest versions of its Model 3 electric vehicle. For $35,000—before any federal or local tax incentives—you can now order a rear-wheel drive Model 3 Standard Range. This car gets black paint and the as-yet unseen standard interior, which means manual (not power assisted) seat and steering adjustment, cloth trim, and a stripped-down audio system. Tesla says the cheapest Model 3 will have 220 miles of range, will hit 60mph (96km/h) in 5.6 seconds before topping out at 130mph (209km/h).
[...] However, these new, cheaper Teslas come at a cost. Tesla also announced that it is now moving to an entirely online sales model and will be shuttering most of its retail locations in the US. "Going to online only is incredibly helpful to us; in many parts of the US, we're unable to sell cars because of franchise laws. This substantially opens up our ability to buy cars. It's 2019—people want to buy stuff online," Musk said.
That means job losses. "There's no other way for us to achieve the savings required to produce this car and still remain profitable. There's no way around it," Musk said. However, when asked about the number or timing of job losses, Musk would not be drawn into details and dismissed the question as "not today's topic."
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Friday March 01 2019, @06:14PM (2 children)
I really think the electric car is coming fast, it's only a question of when. 2025? Earlier? Later?
I base this on an appreciation of the stunningly fast and abrupt collapse of tube TVs and monitors in 2009, which year was evidently a tipping point. At the start of 2009, about half the TVs for sale were tube, and the rest were flatscreens. By the end of the year, the tubes were all gone. Flatscreens had been widely available for a decade at that point (more exotic, rarer, less good, and more expensive flatscreen tech had been around longer-- plasma screens, anyone?), but older models had a number of deficiencies such as slow response times, not very black blacks and not very bright whites. And they used fluorescent for the backlighting. That changed to the more efficient and capable LED backlighting around then, and they steadily improved in display quality and speed. Now CRTs are almost entirely gone, barely holding onto a few niches.
Batteries are at about the point that flatscreens were in 2005. Still not as good at energy storage as the humble gas tank, but getting better all the time, while the gas tank is at a standstill-- are there any significant improvements still possible for the gas tank? Batteries do not have to be as good as gas tanks, they only have to be good enough in combination with the vastly superior electric motor to beat the gas tank and internal combustion engine combo. And when that day comes, when the battery electric is not just equal, but considerably better, maybe at least 20% better, more than enough to offset the combination blow of increased electricity prices and reduced gasoline prices thanks to good old Economics 101 Supply and Demand principles, then I think we'll see a tipping point like we did for monitors in 2009, and ICE cars will be toast. 2009 was the Year of the Flatscreen. I don't know which year will be the Year of the Electric car, but I think there will be one, soon. It doesn't necessarily have to be exclusively batteries either, there's also fuel cells, fly wheels, and other energy storage methods that could suddenly emerge as the method of choice. However, I'm thinking batteries are most likely.
Another factor is solar power. Solar panels have been improving by leaps and bounds. Going to see a lot more solar on residential roofs, which will make switching to electric cars easier on the finances and the grid.
(Score: 2) by Knowledge Troll on Friday March 01 2019, @07:38PM
Thank you for clarifying. I'm really looking forward to the point where battery tech hits that workable tipping point too. I like your analysis on how quickly the situation can flip too when technology is ready. Though one variable here is the cost difference - $350 to $1000 for a computer monitor vs $35,000 vs $100,000 for an electric car and that is quite the ratio.
If you throw out a CRT there is also some loss of energy. If you huck an entire car chassis into the crusher you have lost a lot of energy that was invested in creating the material, shaping it and joining it. Even if you recycle the material and produce another chassis out of it you still invest quite a bit more energy into producing a new chassis than just using the existing one.
This is why it's a good thing to not crush existing ICE cars when they become obsolete.
(Score: 2) by Absolutely.Geek on Sunday March 03 2019, @11:13PM
The tipping point you speak of is a lot wider for a car vs a monitor; but overall you are correct. For many people the tipping point has been reached; the people that drive 100km / day or less for work etc...these people are well serviced; perhaps a few more models to choose from but the tech has been there for them for a few years.
I regularly travel ~300km / day for work; a Tesla Model S / X which I can buy in NZ would suit me well....except the price is too much; apparently we are getting the Model 3 later this year; the long range would meet my needs. I would love to get an electric car; but there is nothing on the market in NZ that meets my needs at a price I'm willing to pay.
As Knowledge Troll points out; the cost difference between a CRT and a flat screen makes the purchase decision vastly different.
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