I could see them as the new Saturn, a niche part of GM. Or perhaps Fiat will rescue them like they did with Chrysler.
One thing is clear, the soy boy running the show was so pissed off about shorts he put the entire Company at risk. He won.
Tesla relationship with Space-x will keep them running for awhile, since we need a dozen vehicles for our new Space Force.

One of my co-workers put in a deposit for a Model 3 the first day. He talked about that car non-stop for months, telling everyone how he had a deposit on one, etc.

He finally got to drive one about a week ago and wasn't impressed. Said it felt "cheap" inside. It was about $55K for the one he was looking at and he didn't see the value. So he pulled his deposit and moved on.

Out on the 3....

And in on the S.

The car is simply the fastest smoothest thing there is.

I'd rather have a demon

It's a "lookie what I got" kinda car. Not a bad thing, just not for me.

Making electric cars is hard.

It's appealing, but for me, by the time they actually start building the "affordable" Model 3, there won't be rebates left. I'll wait to see what second gen Teslas end up being. Early adopting is still way too pricy.

I like what Tesla does, and electric is definitely the future, but it's not, and likely never will be for me. Instead I went from a 2016 Corvette Z06 and just got a 2016 Porsche Cayman GTS. Electric vehicles are just completely soulless to me. They have no character and they sound like golf carts. I'll be buying gas powered manual cars for as long as they keep making them. Then when they stop, I'll just buy used cars.

I sold my 2017 Audi A4 for a 2016 Model S. I was so excited. Got it, and thought it was so cool. In my mind, I had a charger at the garage where I park daily, I live near a supercharger, and my car had an estimated 250 mile range. So I figured I could charge weekly (30 mile round trip), and never have to pay a dime.

The reality hit hard. The battery performance was heavily influenced by weather. In the dead of winter I was charging every two days. The nav system wasn't nearly as accurate as my Audi or even my phone. You couldn't add stopovers. No carplay or android auto, and my audiobooks never had the correct cover art. No blind spot sensors. Software updates were great, but they would seemingly randomly add or change features you'd have to find out on your own, and occasionally break things.

Don't get me wrong, it was a head turner, and fast as hell. But for me to spend almost $70k on a USED car that didn't have basic things that my Audi has...well I got rid of it after 6 months.

Have you ever thought about a Prius?

This video details that fact very well.

The constant braying of fan boys and sycophants is being drowned out by the Ambient sleep-deprived voice of the CEO. I liken Tesla Co. to an iceberg, a little exposed at the top with the greatest dangers hidden. My concern is somehow the American taxpayer will be saddled with the enormous good money after bad bailout when it finally goes off the rails.
Like any flash in the pan concept not ready for prime time it is now not a question of if,but when the implosion occurs. Everything the Saudis touch turns fecal-laden, Tesla will merely reinforce this proven fact. A modern day Jack Welch or Lee Iaccoca could save it, sadly American Industrialist of their caliber are in short supply, what we have left is failed rock stars like Musk.

So if Tesla goes private with Saudi money....does that mean all their "moral equity" goes out the window? lol

This will end badly for Musk & Tesla.

I saw a 3 the other week. Cool dash, but I don't know if I'd want to look at the centre of the dash to check my speed, but I guess other cars have the same sort of thing.
I think Tesla's going to be in trouble when BMW, Jaguar & Volvo come out with electric vehicles.

Great video Crash. Junk Teslas would be great to power wilderness cabins. Fixing the actual cars? I admire the guy for his bravery.
Then again,not much difference than an electric forklift, those mechanics may find it a breeze.

So what kind of range were you getting in the winter? Less than 100?

Sorry guys and Gals your the Minority! Model 3 will be the NUMBER 5 top selling vehicle in the US. Majority of people love the car! Don't take my word for it read the FACTS!

https://cleantechnica.com/2018/08/17/tesla-model-3-might-5th-best-selling-car-in-usa-in-august/

Just to be sure it is clear, that list is only cars and does not include trucks and SUVs which presently dominate US vehicle sales:

https://focus2move.com/usa-best-selling-cars/

Out, we supply parts to them and its a clown show. Worst engineering change control I have ever seen. Good luck with recalls in the future because they won't even know what cars need repairs for certain engineering changes.

Im out.

This is the only electric car I will ever own.

The real cars I drive are all required to make engine noise & guzzle as much gasoline as possible.

20180817_135941 (resized).jpg

Tesla stock takes a nose dive! It's in the news now.

I don't think they have any intention of doing recalls unless they're absolutely forced to. They're relying on cult-like loyalty of customers to convince themselves that the defects are normal and the car is great even when it's falling apart.

There seem to be fewer illusions of those running them commercially however. In Amsterdam there are quite a lot of the Model S being used as taxis / airport transfer cars, since the tax regime and price of fuel vs electricity make electric cars a decent proposition economically, and demand initially exceeded supply for Teslas (so they could sell them after use for a good price).

I've ridden in 5 so far. 1 guy was lukewarm. 2 hated it and were spitting venom when asked; 1 particularly who'd had the heater fail twice in this year's cold snap. 2 thought it was ok to drive but too unreliable. All said they'd had constant niggles and reliability issues, including several full breakdowns. All said they wanted to change. 4 said they'd go to a more reliable, cheaper fully electric European or Japanese / Korean brand as soon as there were choices available. 1 said he'd go back to a Prius (what he had before).

All but one of them rattled badly, and had drafts from the windows even when closed. The upholstery and plastics looked worn even on the 2 that had done below 40,000KM.

I see quite a few private ones around, too, but don't know anyone with one. Do know a few people with Mitsubishi / Hyundai / BMW electric cars though.

Our government does not mess around when it comes to safety recalls, and those cost companies a shit ton of $. Good luck finding a dealership that will do the service.

I think the ambien tweeting CEO caused that.

It's the 5th best selling automobile in America. Have yet to see one on the road. Guess batteries aren't included.

OUT...I sold my m3 reservation, but i wouldn't mind owning a 2.0 Roadster. If they can actually complete car that goes 0-60 in 1.9 and has a 600 mile range it would change the game. Too bad its 200k...

Was considering one some day; after learning the MININUM initial $35,000 price was sticking, and the safety issues/Right to Repair attitude, heck no.

Dodge advertising helps sell even more Electric Vehicles:

https://electrek.co/2018/05/25/dodge-demon-ad-electric-vehicle-advertising/

That’s really odd because as I recall a whole lot of American muscle had to be bailed out not that long ago.

I don't think Ford took any of that money.

You may want to check again. They didn’t take TARP money. They took TALF money. Billions upon billions in fact.

Man, ambien is a career killer. It got Rosanne first.

This is at least two outright lies, from a lying liar who repeatedly lies about all things Tesla.

They have shown on several occasions that they are more than willing to do preemptive recalls, like the time they installed titanium armor under my car for free. They also have among the highest customer satisfaction ratings of any car, mostly because they almost never break, and when they do Tesla fixes them.

Feel free to hate the cars and the company, I couldn’t care less. But I won’t let lies stand without corrections.

Electric cars are a conspiracy brought on by the underground crab people and I for one will not have any of it!

Other brands routinely recall parts to have issues worked on that aren't major safety problems. Given all the stories about bodges with faulty or damaged parts going into cars, and the shonky build quality and QA, I don't think they'll do much unless forced by the regulator. Also, as I understand it the regulator has not stepped in over the issues with extreme braking distances, combined with Tesla admitting they were skipping industry standard brake tests at the factory ... so I'd question your assertion that they "don't mess around".

I think the whole business has become so politicised and is on such shaky ground that they're very reticent to intervene, as they don't want to be blamed for bringing it down. There's a lot of pressure not to. Like with the SEC .... I'm very dubious that Musk will be prosecuted to the extent that the law would normally dictate when there's a clear case of price manipulation and making intentionally materially false and misleading statements (a fictional largest private buyout in history no less). If they actually go through with it, I'll be pleasantly surprised.

Their PR handlers advised them to blame it on a prescription drug and try to ilicit sympathy. Hence Musk 'crying' in that interview.

"Oh, woe is me, all the mean people pointing out the similarities between Tesla in 2018 and the Titanic's maiden voyage. Can't sleep anymore. Forced to use drugs(I'm rumoured to be a heavy user of much worse than Ambien). All their fault. Diminished responsibility when I decided to manipulate, attempt to ruin shorts, evade a potentially deadly convertible bond, and boost the share price, pretending that one of my day dreams was a cast iron and largest private buyout ever. Sob. Sob. Sob."

= "Haters and bullies (critics) made me turn to drugs. Drugs made me commit pre-meditated fraud. I'm beyond criticism or censure."

= "Haters and bullies made me turn to drugs. Drugs made me racist. I'm beyond criticism."

In Michigan. Currently how many service centers are there? Can you say flatbed to Cleveland? Or, maybe this guy has a couple of floor jacks and can perform recalls in a customer's driveway/garage/local vacant Saturn dealer parking lot? This pic was taken aboot a mile away from your home.

TSV20176725_6848965 (resized).jpg

Corrections to the lies and misrepresentations made by @rubberducks, serial liar and misrepresenter about Tesla:

Actually, no, quite the opposite. They fail quite a lot of parts because they want the cars to be superb:
https://bgr.com/2018/03/14/model-3-problems-tesla-parts-rework-tesla-denies/

This was fixed with a software update in one week. One week! Anyway, it was an extreme edge case where if you made multiple repeated panic stops your braking distance would be reduced. It was fixed by a software update within days and is no longer an issue.

https://www.consumerreports.org/car-safety/tesla-model-3-gets-cr-recommendation-after-braking-update/

The test was a duplicate because unlike any other automaker they test every car on a track:
https://insideevs.com/tesla-model-3-production-testing-changed/

Please return to shitting all over one of America’s greatest success stories.

Yeah, its pretty awesome - 80% of repairs can be done by their Mobile Service trucks so they come to you and fix your car. It’s hard to wrap your head around until you realize that most things that break on a car don’t exist on EV’s: exhaust, carburetor, pistons, o2 sensor, oil system, transmission...

To answer your other question, they have none currently in Michigan, although one is planned.

Ford has taken over 27 billion in government assistance:
https://subsidytracker.goodjobsfirst.org/parent/ford-motor

I look forward to your post admonishing Musk for lying about “funding secured”.

I think it would have been better for him not to have made the tweet, I think I already said that in the other forum. Feel better?

Not if you are going to call someone a “liar” for voicing an opinion.