Tesla quietly drops “full self-driving” option as it adds $45,000 Model 3
arstechnica.com
arstechnica.com
Then, they bring in this new mid-range model to try to shave off a few more short-range (SR) holdouts and push them into a more expensive model; maybe you weren't willing to pay $9k for the bigger battery (plus $5k for premium) but you can be talked into $5k for a bigger battery (plus $5k for premium, I presume).
It's also interesting how often they've changed the price on the AWD model; it's jumped up and down a thousand a bunch of times. There's no reason this couldn't be replicated by a manufacturer with a traditional dealer model, except the dealers would tend to be annoyed at having on-lot inventory that fluctuates in 'value', although I think traditionally dealers don't actually pay for their inventory until it sells, regardless. And obviously price messaging is harder in a dealership model.
The $35k Model 3 was always going to be the hardest to produce profitably; we're either not there yet, or Tesla sees no reason to produce the lowest profit margin vehicle until they absolutely have to. The backlog of US orders must be low enough that they may as well squeeze the remaining holdouts -- although the demand certainly doesn't seem to be tailing off too quickly.
The RWD LR model 3 was my go-to and the one I was considering.
With this change, they have now essentially replaced that model with one that has 50 mile less range with very little savings on price.
Now the long range version looks so much less appealing as the price is now over $60k for an AWD upgrade I have absolute no use for.
As another comment mentioned, you can still get the LR RWD this week. We've got one, very happy with it.
We actually bought the RWD LR two days ago. The process for purchase is using their website to select the options you want while the sales associate sits there quietly waiting to answer questions.
Color choice was the only non binary option.
There was no "premium" option you describe.
Autopilot and full autonomous driving were optional and the associate said all cars are fully equipped to support both and they can be added at a later date.
Having 3 power train configurations is added complexity they might just be trying to avoid while also milking those who think they need LR for another 5k.
They told us up front the notugly rims were a % reduction in performance and cost extra. They're not trying very hard to separate fools from their money.
If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that the hardware to support full autonomous driving might no longer be included in vehicles and they'll be shipping with just what is necessary for Autopilot, assuming there's a difference.
There was no "premium" option because you can't get a car without it, but premium is $5000. $35k+5k premium+9k LR battery = $49k. Presumably the MR is the same; $35k+5k premium+5k MR battery = $45k.
We've got the ugly rims; I figured for the money I can get something I like better. But, my wife likes them, and I'm not in a hurry to spend the money, so on the car they stay :)
Price discrimination means posting a price, and then offering discounts/markups to different groups in the same timeframe to maximize profits (while also trying hard not destroying future profit potential - your customers need to not rebel).
Market segmentation is more around defining different products with different prices at different times. At any given time, the same people will pay the same price for the same product.
Now they're removing FSD from the website in response to DoJ pressure.
While I haven't heard anything about the DoJ related to the self-driving feature, how they might be involved is pretty obvious:
The DoJ prosecutes federal crimes, including, reportedly, a recent criminal referral from the SEC.
While the trigger for that was Musk's tweets, federal criminal investigations aren't narrowly restricted to the conduct which triggered them; Tesla has made representations, regarding the self-driving feature to investors as well as consumers; to the extent those representations did not fully accurately represent Tesla’s knowledge, and materially impacts Telsa’s expected costs and outlook, that's a potentially criminal securities fraud.
Most of these $TSLAQ people are, of course, short-sellers, so take it with a fair bit of salt.
Hundreds of disengagements, all in a few days in October 2016.
Consistent with multiple attempts of filming their self driving promo.
No disengagements apart from that in 2 years.
https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/wcm/connect/f1873c87-4f21-4beb...
The car is good enough to stand on its own.
There's no other reason to put all the vehicle information so far away from the center other than planning on eventually phasing out human drivers.
Edit: to be clear, I believe that Tesla was way too optimistic on when self driving would be available, and that over reliance on the center console is a bad design.
Might be a little early to do this in a production car now, given the tech is still 10+ years away.
Do anyone actually believe that any car massproduced today will ever be self-driving? (Without major modification).
I'm not bashing on Model 3, I want one. But I'd rather see it didn't have any self-driving hardware in it at all. It just isn't ready for that.
I'd still be pissed if my car did that without explicit opt-in, but it doesn't have to be nearly as bad as you make it sound.
They call it shadow mode and it has been running since at least generation 2 hardware in 2016
https://cleantechnica.com/2017/09/01/new-tesla-autopilot-sof...
My car has its entertainment display roughly where the display is on a model 3. I can tell you that looking at the speedometer is much much quicker than glancing over to the screen in the middle. Probably by an order of magnitude or two. Even checking the clock takes a dangerous amount of time compared to checking my current speed, the difference is that drastic.
Further more, the instrument cluster is designed specifically to be easy to read and driver oriented, Porsche’s habit of putting the tachometer in the middle comes to mind. The center console has to support many more activities, including entertainment, and is thus much more distracting by design. This is true on my car, and the center screen is much simpler than a model 3.
HUDs aren’t exactly exotic supercar material these days. The Honda Accord Touring (MSRP $33k) has one standard. Now that’s the top level trim for that model, but it’s also in a much lower market segment than the model 3.
It's to the right of your steering wheel so you can see it and touch it with your hand.
The screen should not be essential to use to drive safely. No brakes, speed changes, turn signaling, etc. These should be tactile, so you can use muscle memory and focus on the traffic. Obviously any screen can also be distracting, so it's important that it is designed well and thoroughly tested.
Paying attention to your speed, means not paying attention to the road. No matter where the dial is. Checking your speed is not something you need to do to drive safely. A responsible driver can pick a safe moment to glance.
Edit: Actually I guess you could say they are, although the titles are so different I think it will attract different people into the comments. I would not have clicked on that link but I immediately was interested in this story.
Why would you pay for an unreleased product before is available having the option to upgrade to it when it is available?
Tesla has been selling FSD for years now and it has never been available, why would you buy it on the Model 3 knowing that?
These 3 questions are essentially the same, just worded differently. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
(If the latter, you probably are better of buying Tesla shares than buying the FSD option now. If Tesla reaches the point where it sells a fully self-driving car, those shares probably will be worth more than the price of that feature)