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Tesla Model 3 Orders Books Now Open To All In U.S.
5 H BY VANJA KLJAIĆ 72
Tesla Model 3 orders may be open to everyone in North America, but you’re still out of luck if you want that base $35,000 model
Finally, you are no longer required to hold a reservation in order to purchase a Model 3.
Tesla has opened its ordering system for everyone in the U.S. wanting to order their electric vehicle. Even if you’re not looking to order, you can still go through the configuration process and play around with what might be your future Model 3.
More Model 3 Info
Tesla may be through the perfect storm that is their production process woes, but it’s still not ready to sell the $35,000 base model it promised us a long time ago. According to current data on their website, people wanting to order a Model 3 with a standard battery are faced with a 6-9 month wait time.
For anyone that wants to order a Model 3 with a reasonable wait time, you must choose the aforementioned long-range battery and premium interior, pushing the minimum price up to $49,000 – before tax breaks. Everything else regarding its configuration is up to you: a choice between a rear-wheel or all-wheel drive, Performance version, Autopilot, color, wheels and other items.
And yes, the car looks incredible with a Deep Blue Metallic paint finish and those 20” wheels and improved brakes, all part of the Performance Upgrade option. For a $5,000 price hike, you get those two items, alongside a carbon fiber spoiler, aluminum alloy pedals and finally, the Model 3’s top speed increased from 145mph to 155mph.
According to our sources, reservation holders still get first dibs on the car. This means that, even if you ordered today, you’ll still gonna be faced with a long time before your delivery actually takes place. Currently, according to Tesla, the company estimates that delivery times could be, in consecutive order: 1-3 months for a rear-wheel-drive version, with a long-range battery and premium interior, approximately 2-4 months for the dual motor versions and the same battery and interior, and 1-3 months for the dual motor, all-wheel-drive version with the same battery and interior options.
Naturally, these lead times could go up or down. However, it’s good to see that Tesla has pushed its Model 3 production output to such levels that the company is confident to make regular orders available. Hopefully, they’ll cut the lead times and allow for a timely delivery for anyone ordering a Model 3 in the forthcoming months.
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72 Comments on "Tesla Model 3 Orders Books Now Open To All In U.S."
What was the timeframe from when ordering was opened to all reservation holders to when ordering was opened to anyone? Two weeks? It sounds like they couldn’t fill the order pipeline from the last remaining reservation holders. I think many of these reservation holders originally aimed for the $35K version + $7.5K federal rebate + state credits.
It’s a bit of a bummer that a reservation holder must put down $3500 but a new buyer only $2500.
New buyers are still behind the one that put a deposit down earlier.
Why complain about Tesla offering more choices, Eleventy Pretend Electrics? The reservation holder can always cancel his reservation and get a full refund, if he wants to go to the back of the line with the others who didn’t get a reservation.
I just drove by one of the SoCal showrooms and the lots were absolutely jammed (>100 CARS) with TM3.
for a car that “you can’t buy off the lot” they sure have a lot of them sitting around. I’m wondering if maybe they’ve already fulfilled most of the demand for the $65K car? I guess we’ll know if “targeted incentives” suddenly appear– especially since all the reservation-wait-in-line stuff’s already history. Right now it appears you can Order-Configure-Deliver without placing the $1000 reservation to wait in line.
It’s like the Super Antithesis Of Everybody Want Some. No…everybody who wants a $50K+ rushed tent-built zombie-grunt 5-min misdirection delivery walkthrough Tbone-finder, is out on the roads, so be wary and steer clear of their Grey Poupon entitlement Red HOV stickers.
The jammed lots are obviously cars awaiting delivery.
Obviously they wouldn’t have kept ramping production if they didn’t have enough orders…
I don’t know how “obvious” that is… it’s a lot of cars that everybody’s anxious to take delivery on. And, all parties have incentive to get them moved off the lot, so why have 120 or so of them just sitting around?
I mean it’s possible they are awaiting re-work, given how they were rushed out of the tent, but I can’t imagine why they’d have that many sitting here in a small (<100K population) town awaiting delivery.
Cars have to be prepped for delivery after being shipped. Not just Tesla’s. Every car sold by every company everywhere in the world first gets shipped from the factory to the final sales location where shipping packaging is remove and the vehicle is prepped for delivery.
Sorry you need to be taught basic logistics. But you seem fine with exposing your complete willful ignorance to the whole world on an hourly basis.
Or maybe, just maybe, it has nothing to do with “filling the order pipeline”, but simply the fact that once everyone was able to make a reservation and then immediately convert it into an order, they could just as well eliminate that redundant step…
If you are buying a $50K+ Tesla, and you are worried about the difference of $1000 dollars is for a couple of months between now and when you complete the purchase, you shouldn’t be buying a $50K+ new car of any kind.
Cheesy move by Elon,
… so I wonder how many “base model 3” reservation holders are gonna take their $1,000 and cheese it?
And, as predicted, (Arstechnica just posted this…) the $35K version has disappeared completely off the Tesla website as of today. Not sure what that means, but it can’t be good for all of us waiting for an affordable version.
I’m sure that, being the upstanding member of the IEVs “usual suspects” community that you are, you’ll post an apology when your latest bit of anti-Tesla FUD is shown to be fake news.
Oh, wait… Of course you won’t.
No it hasn’t.
Tesla.com shows “Standard Battery available in 6-9 months” in the configurator, and the Model 3 pages shows a “standard” option in the Specs section.
https:// arstechnica . com/cars/2018/07/tesla-drops-35000-price-from-model-3-page-insists-plans-havent-changed/
I haven’t logged on to look, but this is what ARS reported earlier today
Heck, at least you admitted you didn’t even bother looking before you blindly cut-and pasted from Seeking Alpha and Concern Trolling it to here.
Because otherwise you would realize that you’ve made THE EXACT MISTAKE you were told not to make:
“It’s a mistake to position this as a change in Tesla’s plan because it’s not,” she told Ars in a phone interview. “We’re just focusing on the options that are available now for our customers so that it’s more clear. There’s nothing else to it.”
?? Seeking Alpha? What are you talking about?
It sure sounds like the $35K option fading into the mists of “oh we never planned to build that” along with battery swap.
Wow. Even when spoon fed the answer, you continue your willful ignorance.
“It’s a mistake to position this as a change in Tesla’s plan because it’s not,” she told Ars in a phone interview. “We’re just focusing on the options that are available now for our customers so that it’s more clear. There’s nothing else to it.”
On a serious note, you certainly do display distinct inability to read. If you have a legitimate diagnosed learning disability, and I will stop mocking you for a disability you have no control over.
Cupboard is Bare. Tesla Kodak moment approaching. There are Zero M3 Long Range $50K+ reservation CA waitlist buyers left in USA. They So need the Unicorn fairytale std range $35k or they are So DeD BeF. Hail Mary sell other 95% to Tencent, or Sergei & Larry
GM is the Kodak of EV’s, starting with the EV1. Now they are still sitting on the once popular Volt and Leaf, which are both way down from GM’s initial pre-launch sales projections.
Reservation holders are just the tip of the iceberg of Tesla demand.
Considering how many people have been complaining that Tesla presents the Model 3 as a $35,000 car while not actually selling the $35,000 variant yet, I don’t see how simply removing the misleading claim for now would be a bad thing…
Elon Musk should never have mentioned that the (base version) Tesla Model 3 would have a price tag of $35,000.-.
He should have said that it will be a sub $50,000.- car.
The long-range battery should be the only battery available (at first).
Later on, after having delivered the first few hundred thousand copies of the Tesla Model 3, they should introduce the cheaper and smaller battery pack as a new option. And that would then result in a base version of the Tesla Model 3 for $35,000.-
How about that?
They wouldn’t have anywhere near 400k reservations if the advertised price tag was “<$50k".
They would have also lost way more sales to the Bolt, if they hadn't kept up the "$35k" charade till early 2018.
People placing a reservation knew it would take several years to deliver, even without any delays. Knowing Tesla’s past production delays, most of those placing reservation indeed probably expected it to take longer than announced.
Original plan was to deliver the base version only a couple of months after production start. It’s a change of plans, not intentional dishonesty.
You don’t know how many reservation holders wanted to buy the $35,000 version. Nobody really knows that, including Tesla. Voluntary surveys among reservation holders suggest though that many (most?) people were budgeting way more than $35,000 from the beginning.
A delay is not a “charade”.
No, they wouldn’t have lost “way more sales”, simply because they are only making 25k Bolts a year anyway, so it would have made no difference at all.
Advertising the Model 3 as having a MSRP of $35k was definitely a good marketing strategy for Tesla. Heck, it was brilliant! It is a large part of why they got an unprecedented ~455,000 paid reservations.
We’ll see the $35,000 Tesla Model 3 sooner or later, assuming the Trumpian trade wars don’t force auto makers including Tesla to raise prices. Of course, that $35,000 TM3 is going to be a stripper version, which means very few people will be ordering it… just as very few automobiles of any model in the $30k+ market segment are made as stripper versions.
Trumpian trade wars will raise prices on everything, remember what Michael Moore said about Trump “in a few years you will not like him”. Elections have consequences CONNECT THE DOTS ON CLEAN AIR WAKE UP FOLKS thanks co2.earth
I guess I’m intolerant. I have loathed Donald Trump since the ’80s. No need for me to wait a few years.
I never liked Trump on a personal level either. I like the direction he is taking the country, the great economy and muscular foreign policy. It was about time. GO TRUMP.
The difference is, when I bought my Bolt last year, the stripper $37,495 (actually much cheaper with the incentives that were going on) version was available to me. I could have bought that car way back at the beginning if I wanted it. GM said that was the entry price and they kept their word. As it was, I bought the base car with only four options added. Out the door with tax license, registration, etc for $39,000 and change. Then I got $10,500 in rebates and credits.
“TM3 is going to be a stripper version, which means very few people will be ordering it… just as very few automobiles of any model in the $30k+ market segment are made as stripper versions.”
Elon also said that $35K version is also very competitive to everything else on the market. So, there is some expectation that it would be one of the best $35K vehicles on the market.
Much of auto news market also expected many of the so called Camry/Accord buyers to upgrade to base $35K model 3. Those buyers will certainly NOT plan to spend $50K on the car. They are the ones that expect to spend $35K and get some incentives to drop it to $30K if they can.
” It is a large part of why they got an unprecedented ~455,000 paid reservations”
Er, you made another typo. What you meant to write was:
It is the only reason they got an unprecedented ~455,000 interest free loans
Tesla DID NOT expect that many reservations! They were actually setting up for a more modest timeline for 2020. When they saw the demand was that crazy, they pushed up the timeline 2 years. Mistakes and severe opposition attempting to dry up capital market access for Tesla, have crunched that 2 year headstart down to 6 months. This forced a strategic change. Now, instead of going to the markets(which would have allowed them to eat some losses on the standard battery models, thus making them sooner) they’re going to immediate profitably to blunt the ‘Don’t lend them money because EVs can’t be made profitably’ attacks.
That, by definition, forces them to push the most profitable units out the door first, as Musk iterated in his tweet on the subject. I don’t, for a second, believe the nonsense that they won’t sell the base model at all. It’s coming, just not as soon as many would like. Which of course makes for great FUD until it arrives.
Just because she dances for dollars doesn’t mean her version is a $35k. Perhaps she can afford to spend more money on a car than you realize. That’s why there’s Polestar, which has a name that pays homage to this occupation.
If they hadn’t mentioned the entry price they are targeting, they wouldn’t have gotten all these reservations, prompting them to ramp production way faster than originally planned. And it wouldn’t have sent a signal to the *entire automotive industry* to significantly step up EV plans.
Sure, some reservation holders might be disgruntled — but in the grand scheme of things, it was a very, very good move.
Elon , Is Far From Foolish .
Overpromising and underdelivering is Elon’s MO. His $56k sedan wasn’t that different, except that they introduced it early and dropped it fast. Perhaps he learned from that and figured if he promised a price he can offer in 2022, nobody would be able to claim he lied..?
I am a bit concerned about this move – did not expect it so fast given how we have hear so much about the 420K reservations, etc. I think the main demand is for the $35K car which they know they can’t make at a profit so will demand keep up where they need to produce 5K/week and not build a $35K version? They will probably start selling international before considering the $35K version. And if they can’t make a $35K car profitably I wish they would just admit it and change the price – I would prefer them to be upfront. I would respect them saying – after 2 years we have learned we could not automate the assembly line as expected and we decided to give the M3 more features and as such, the new short range entry price is XXX.
Thing is, they still *do* believe they can make it profitably at $35,000 — just somewhat later in the ramp than originally planned.
I’m not too concerned about opening the order process. Clearly, they want to move as many of the higher-priced variants as possible, before turning to the cheaper ones — but that doesn’t imply they are getting too few of the higher-priced orders to be profitable at all…
You know what, Tesla is surfing the disinformation wave. Musk said long ago that the 35K$ price point for M3 would bring in ~25% margin. BUT what a “public” nonsense for the other car makers claiming (falsely) high and loud that they can’t make a profit out of their overpriced under-ranged EVs they do NOT want to sell.
So now Tesla comfortably sells his high margin versions while we patiently wait for the 35K$ ones, while the media continue to beat the non-profitable drum.
So Ars Technica says that Tesla has scrubbed all reference to a $35,000 price on the 3. Gone. Tesla rep is quoted, “This has nothing to do with a change in pricing.”
Who you going to believe? LOL!
I think there will be some 3’s sold at $35,000 but they will be a rare bird indeed.
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2018/07/tesla-drops-35000-price-from-model-3-page-insists-plans-havent-changed/
Do you really want a $35,000 car without ACC ($5k option)? No, you don’t. So the base price is effectively $40,000. (any color ,as long as it’s black)
They should make the $35K very bare bones – ie no power seats/windows, cloth interior, no traffic, no streaming, no autopilot features, etc. If they could even make it a 10 inch screen they could do that. Most people will get at least one add on package of $2-4K and therefore increase the average selling price. If they are offering a $75K version of the car, the $35K version better be really bare bones
Dr. Gez,
No clue why the system sends every one of your comments to moderation. I messed with the settings. Someone that is banned must have a similar IP address or email. Sorry. I wish I could fix it. It would save me the hassle of having to constantly pull them out of the folder. But, at this point, nothing I can do is solving the issue. You can try to use a different email or name and see if it solves the problem. Otherwise, if I’m not in front of the computer, your messages may not go through until I check.
The Model 3 has to stay competitive and a barebones 35K edition would not be that.
For example: The 2019 Nissan Leaf 60 kWh version with similar performance and range is also expected to cost 35K. That will be probably a top trim with everything Nissan has (propilot…etc).
I very much doubt a 60 kWh Leaf at $35,000 will be a top trim… Unless they considerably reduce the entry price for the 40 kWh variant as well.
Also, even a very bare-bones Model 3, while missing some convenience features, would still be a way more premium car over all. (Performance, handling, etc.)
Isn’t that what every car maker is doing? The base price version being really bare-bones, so pretty much everyone goes for some extras? (And generally budgets that in from the beginning when looking at the base price…)
I have never had a car with ACC, and I very seldom use the cruise control my Volt does have, so, meh…
The one thing my base Volt doesn’t have that I would want is a back up camera. The rest of the upgrade option pack means relatively little to me. But I have to admit that heated seats (my car is garage kept so this isn’t a show stopper) and the longer range battery sound good, just not $5k/$9k good… It kind of sucks that useful options like heated seats get rolled in together with stuff that is a lot less useful, so you have to pay big bucks for a small upgrade you want and other stuff you couldn’t care less about.
And I do like the Henry Ford quote!
Actually, yes I do. I have driven now just shy of 40 years and never had that feature on any car I have driven, including rental cars. I would not pay $5000 for that one feature. It’s not with it and there are better uses for my money.
I think rental cars are the entry drug of car buying. I rented a Buick Lacrosse when I was in Montana and between the heads up display, heated seats and the back up camera, I didn’t miss my Volt at all. I just wish I could buy the HUD and the back up camera without getting stuff I don’t want.
The problem is, if they unbundled all the options, each single one would have to become more expensive… That’s an eternal trade-off very car maker and buyer has to struggle with.
I’m sure the majority of the 400k rez holders, in particular those who stood in line on March 31, 2016 for the promise of a $35k Tesla (before incentives) are just *thrilled* that anyone can now come off the street and get a $50k one, while they are being called chumps, idiots, and free-riders by Elon and his fanbois.
I applaud Tesla’s contribution to the EV revolution, but this is marketing deception at its worst. Borderline illegal, possibly beyond the line (and I’m sure someone is gearing up for a class-action lawsuit).
Furthermore, the “35k Tesla” charade has visibly dampened media and consumer enthusiasm for the revolutionary Chevy Bolt, and completely wrote off the 150-mile Nissan Leaf which is doing great sales-wise everywhere except in the US, where the Tesla narrative still dominates all media EV reporting, and hence the public perception of EVs.
So the Tesla Model 3 effect might end up being a net negative for EVs in the US in 2017-2018. 2019 can still be salvaged if they start making and selling the 220-mile version sooner rather than later.
Musk also said Tesla 3 will be capable of towing which it isn’t, so lack of $35K won’t be a surprise. At this point, it’s a wait and see game as to what will be lowest price offered. That’s why I got the BoltEV for now; waiting to see if there will be $35K version that offers few thousand extra option for full self driving, at least in traffic, because I want to nap in my car during traffic jams. If there’s no such beast, I’ll continue with my $22K post subsidy BoltEV.
I actually think Tesla will ship some “symbolic” $35K Model 3 at some point. But any “current/new” orders can just forget it. If one didn’t put reservation on it last year, then they wouldn’t be able to get it. I think Tesla was hoping that people would move up to the $50K version. But many are actually lured in with the $35K promise. That isn’t surprising. I knew that when I dropped my $1K in. I did it because I was willing to Tesla a $1K free loan and just in case they make it, I would have the first right of refusal if I choose to.
And with the $35K mark, it also pushes traditional automakers to do better. it sort puts a “ceiling” on what other 200+miles EV can charge. In a way, I think that is a good thing for consumers.
What I am truly wondering is that how many buyers are there willing to pay $50K+. That is the biggest question right now.
I have to challenge the “it also pushes traditional automakers to do better.” Mary Barra announced the Bolt’s coming already in early 2015, long before the Model 3 announcement. And unlike the Model 3, the Bolt came to market on time and on the promised price point.
Likewise, Nissan have always promised they’ll get to a 200-mile affordable Leaf sooner or later. Their problem has been of the “later, and limping a wee bit” type.
Anyway, Musk’s deceptive Model 3 strategy didn’t visibly encourage either of these two to do better. It mostly encouraged the US auto media and auto consumers to poo-pooh at any second-generation affordable EV not called Tesla.
FWIW, various estimates from Tesla as well as from surveys among reservation holders mentioned expected average selling prices between all variants to be somewhere in the range of $42,000 – $45,000. No need to sell mostly >$50,000 variants to be profitable…
you’ve articulated this perfectly. Tesla Derangement Syndrome is clearly having ripple effects all over– and not all of them good. IONIQ, BOLT and LEAF are all fine cars, and probably not getting fair airplay given the obsession with a $35K that almost certainly will never come.
At least, if you really want a good EV for under $30k with credits, there’s now time for the “chumps, idiots and free-riders” to go buy a car that you can take deliver on and get the incentives.
This is like Osborne Effect Part Two.
Remeber, 450k reservation is worldwide including Europe, Asia and Australia.
Yes, but those regions outside of US might/will pay more than US price.
Vast majority was in the US. See, e.g., here:
https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forums/approximate-number-reservations-countries-tesla-model-3-source-google
And there’s good reason to suspect that as the super-delayed timeline for Old World deliveries became evident, the overseas rez list dwindled more strongly than in North America.
At minimum the long-patient Europeans are going to get a bunch of tasty options in the next 12 months. Tesla might as well write it off and just focus on China. With more tariffs coming in Europe, I guarantee the Germans and French aren’t going to cede anything to a venture-funded wannabe on their home turf.
400,000 of which were apparently for a $27,500 net-cost car
If the timelines are correct, it seems likely that the vast majority of Model 3 reservation holders are waiting for the $35k base version. Even if you figure 5000 cars a week for 4 months, that’s less than 1/4 of the reservations they have.
About half of reservations are estimated to be non-US, though — so by that extrapolation, perhaps half of US reservation holders would be waiting for base variant… Unless they decided to ship long-range variant outside US before starting base variant production.
I think that Tesla made a mistake.
Tesla is producing the Tesla Model 3 at their plant in Fremont (California).
There is not much space left there to expand the production capacity of the Tesla Model 3.
Tesla should have made the decision (years ago) to build a separate factory where they would be producing the Tesla Model 3.
Where would they have to build this factory?
Perhaps somewhere near the Gigafactory in Nevada?
That just would have been great.
I’m not so sure of that. Supposedly they already have trouble finding qualified workers for the Gigafactory in Nevada — that would only get worse if they produced cars there as well… What’s more, ramping production with an entirely new workforce, without any experienced workers on site, would be even harder than it is. (That too is already a problem at the Gigafactory…)
It’s true that the Freemont location seems to be getting a bit cramped — but it doesn’t look like it’s a serious problem yet at this point…
Elon, why not make a TESLA-day in three months or so, similar to the amazon shopping day. That day is open for base model buyers only, so those who can afford only the base model, can have a shot!
Good to see a lot more people accepting the reality that Tesla cannot ship more than a token number of $35k M3s. They’re barely staying afloat while selling $50k M3s.
It’s sad that so many people have waited around for a car they’ll never get. Especially since they could have been driving a Bolt for the last two years. Time to jump off that M3 waiting list and get a $35k Bolt before GM’s tax credit allowance expires!
Interview with Bloomberg (By Tom Randall) on July 13th, 2018
Elon Musk:
“A lot of the hoped-for automation was counterproductive.”
“Because we were huge idiots and didn’t know what we were doing.”
That’s very honest, and that says a lot.
When Tesla started production of the Tesla Model S (2012), there was this “cheaper” version of the Tesla Model S (with the 40 kWh battery pack).
They cancelled it later on, because too few customers chose this “cheaper” version.
In those days Tesla as a brand was not established as much as it is today.
Therefore, I think that Tesla should have offered a “cheaper” version of the Tesla Model S (with a 40 kWh battery pack) as from January 2018.
Tesla Model S 40D would be great for people who don’t need that much range anyway. But they want to drive the popular Tesla Model S.
Besides the Tesla Model 3.
Let the people decide what they would want to buy.
Both models will sell in great numbers.