Gregg wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 11:44 am
neeneko wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 6:17 am
I wonder if price cuts would have much of an effect on Tesla's target market. They are a 'premium' brand, you are already paying a pretty heft price for something which value is in how it does something, not what it does. So this is not a very price conscious group in the first place.
The FOMO value of a Model S fades real fast when the customers realize first that the car has the fit, finish and overall quality of a Yugo and you can get some pretty nifty high end EVs from Audi, Mercedes, Jaguar, Infinity and well, everyone. Further, the "Tesla Quality for the Price of a Model 3" becomes a joke when they figure out the abovementioned Tesla quality and the Price of a Model 3 is at least $10k higher than models from Ford, GM, VW,
He had a tremendous first to market advantage and he's in the process of blowing it not much slower than he is blowing up Twitter.
Tesla's real advantage was their Supercharger network for DC level 3 charging that blankets the globe. Here in the US of A and Canada, nearly all interstate and TransCanada highways have their charging stations spaced generally no less than 80-100 miles apart. Many very highly traveled highways will have a concentration of locations much closer. Stalls range in size from 4 (these are from 2012-15) to now as many as 80 (near Harris Ranch on Interstate 5 near Coalinga.) The average size today is about 10 stalls per location. In addition, many US numbered highways like US101 and US395 have charging spots 60-100 miles apart. Tesla does a very good job of maintaining them when they go kaput or when tweakers vandalize the charging cables for the $5 of copper wire. I've never had a problem over the years when traveling from California to Denver, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and elsewhere.
In contrast the other DC level 3 charging networks are a mish-mash. Some max out at 50kW. Others at 150kW. Some of the newer ones can deliver 350kW. It takes time to investigate which speeds are at which locations and then figure out when you arrive which stall is which.
There are about four or five private companies that construct, maintain, and charge for use. It is like traveling in the 50s-70s when you needed gas credit cards for Union, Standard, Richfield, Mobil, Conoco, Sinclair, Phillips 66, Shell, and others. You need to have apps or RFID cards or some way to pay for the juice for these proprietary charging stations. Many sites have only one or two charging stalls. Frequently these sites are down. They don't always deliver their stated capacity in kilowatts, either. (Likely due to infrastructure or cheaping out on the equipment.)
Software updates are automatic and can be installed at home. My good friend recently purchased a Porsche Taycan. He has to go to the dealer and have the dealer install the updates not while he waits--he has to return a day or two later to fetch his car.
In other words, until the Audis, Jags, Mercedes, Infinity, et al figure out a way to allow their cars to charge easily and quickly on the road, they will not be as compelling for road trips--even relatively short ones of 200 miles one-way.
But no argument on the build quality.