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Tesla is beginning to deliver a small number of Model 3 cars, but there are concerns that Tesla will not be able to produce enough cars to meet demand:
Wall Street finally got to see all the details of the Tesla Model 3 during the car's launch event Friday. So far investors have given it the thumbs down with the electric car maker's shares down more than 2 percent midday Monday.
"We believe the Model 3 was as good as or better than expected, and pricing was as expected with considerable initial upsell. That said, the rubber now hits the road, and the fundamental questions remain unanswered," Bernstein's Toni Sacconaghi wrote in a note to clients Monday. "CEO Elon Musk sounds increasingly squeamish about the production ramp." The analyst cited how the $35,000 Model 3 car will not be available until early 2018 with only a higher-priced $49,000 model available this year. He also noted Musk's comment to employees to prepare for "production hell."
Speaking of "production hell", Tesla employees in California are threatening to unionize:
Employees at the electric automaker's factory in Fremont, California, have been agitating for a union since Jose Moran, a production associate, wrote a Medium post in January detailing difficult work conditions at the flagship plant. The bulk of the demands has since centered on improving equipment to reduce workplace injuries.
[...] Musk originally called injury allegations at the Fremont plant "disingenuous or outright false" but has since told employees to report injuries directly to him.
Although the base price of the car is $35,000, that can rise to $55,000 or more after options.
Also at MarketWatch, Ars Technica, and CNET.
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 01 2017, @09:35AM (1 child)
> Because the infrastructure for long drives isn't there for the Bolt.
Give it up already. In the near future and with very few exceptions, anyone that is buying either of these electric cars already has a gas car. And with the "recharge" time on the gas car only a few minutes to get 300-400 miles, guess which one is going to be used for long road trips.
Of course there are a few hard core electric converts who will be willing to stop at Superchargers for an extended charge, but if Tesla production follows projections, there will not be nearly enough Supercharger hookups. Remember that you need many more electric charging points than you need gas pumps...because one car hogs the charging point for that half hour.
At peak times (holiday weekend?), and being generous at 5 minutes for a gas fillup, the ratio is 30/5 or 6x the number of charging points. Then factor in the 150 miles that the Model 3 gets and they have to stop 2x as often, for a factor of 12. Just the parking spaces at these extended Superchargers are going to use up a lot of acreage. Then there is the substation required, along with the branch mains to get the power there. No doubt there will be build out, but in the meantime, that half-hour charge just turned into an hour while you wait for the next car in front of you to finish.
Extended road trips in electric cars are going to be popular with magazine writers & reality shows that want to tell a story, but not with ordinary owners that just want to get there.
(Score: 4, Informative) by BasilBrush on Tuesday August 01 2017, @04:26PM
But most of the time EVs are charged at home. So most of those Teslas and Bolts are not competing for public charge points.
Hurrah! Quoting works now!