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Comment by jakemor | Hacker News Reader

So this is the big news?

Yes, it is. For Tesla it means, that they made up to their promise given when introducing the Model 3. Tesla has gotten a lot of critique after the Model 3 deliveries where much later than initially expected and the available versions much more expensive then the promised base price. Offering now a Model 3 for that base price should win them a lot of credibility back.

For the consumer it means, that the cheapest Tesla is now available for 35k vs. 42k vor the mid-range until today. Thats 7k less and make Tesla cars available to a larger audience. While I don't like how Tesla represents the prices with savings, the effective price gets close or below 30k, which is huge.

For electric cars overall it is also important. Tesla is the largest manufacturer of electric cars and the waiting times for the Model 3 are way lower than the competition. So this marks quite some progress in the availability of affordable electric cars.

It’s not the promise I’d signed up for. When I dropped my $2k reservation, it was for a $35,000 car, including a $7500 government rebate, or net $27500 (plus tax lic etc). Instead of delivering my car in the order the reservation was placed, (in that scenario, I’d get the full $7500 rebate), my reservation was reprioritized for Tesla’s bottom line. Would I have done the same thing in Elon’s shoes, sure, but just because they’ve delivered a $35,000 version, doesn’t mean I’m happy.

That’s fair, but then it’s not necessarily all about what you want. Part of it is helping invest in accelerating the world’s transition to sustainable energy. Personally I’m ok with that. ymmv.

How was your reservation $2k though? It makes me wonder if you are really a reservation holder, given that you got the amount wrong. Fake outrage?

I put down two reservations, at $1k each. So, my outrage is quite real. I intended to buy two $35k versions, after rebate at $27,500, that’s a better deal than any Honda Accord. And, I didn’t request my refund back because I believed in the vision. However, now I’m even more pissed, so I’ve made the refund request.

Moreover, the 3 now costs less to own than Accords or Camry's, about the same as a Corolla. 1,000,000 of those 3 (combined) were sold in 2018.

That's huge.

> Moreover, the 3 now costs less to own than Accords or Camry's

Over what time period? The $35k Tesla is the base model, and a base Accord looks to be $23k. And you can probably negotiate that down a little, which I doubt you can do with Tesla. That price difference buys you a _lot_ of gas.

3 can get up to 7K in state + Fed tax credits

Which are capped at the amount of your tax liability. So unless you owe $7k in taxes, you’re not getting the full credit. And the federal tax credit is going down to $1875 later this year.

It’s not exactly the same as a price cut.

Waiting times for the competition? What are you talking about?

I bought a Bolt EV off a dealer lot over a year ago, and the entire transaction took about 30 minutes. The car was $25,000 after incentives ($37K MSRP -> $35k Actual, 7.5k Fed Tax Credit, 2.5k State Credit). The Bolt can reliably go 240 miles on a charge, mine has had zero issues or service visits in 35k miles of driving. Also, it's made by GM which is a real car manufacturer, supported by thousands of dealerships and service centers across the country.

> Also, it's made by GM which is a real car manufacturer...

Run by true Scotsmen, I'm sure.

Sorry, your phrasing seems to imply it isn’t, or am I misunderstanding you?

They are referring to this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19275305

The point being that there was anticipation of something bigger, not finally following through on what was promised previously.

Nice distraction from the SEC’s request for a contempt of court ruling though.

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