🚘 Tesla announced Thursday that it has now Received 325,000 Deposits of $1,000 for Reservations (an increase of +49,000 Cars from Tesla’s Elon Musk Tweet just 4 Days ago).
🚘 TESLA had its Model-3 REVEAL to an enthusiastic crowd, on location and Live-Streamed to Millions on-line, the unveiling of the Model 3 late Thursday, March 31st at 11pm. Yes, truly only 7 days ago.
🚘 Assuming Tesla successfully converts 325,000 Reservations with $1000 deposits into
(A) Firm Contracts [say 12 months from now] for
(B) Average $43,000/Model-3
(C) With non-refundable Total Deposits of say 10% or 15% say $6500/Car,
(D) Delivers & Closes all Model-3 Car that has been Reserved in a reasonable time-frame [a 100% conversion is unlikely]
(E) Tesla says it will generate [Commencing in at least 20 months into the future according to Tesla’s Production Plan] Enough Revenues [about $14 Billion] to make [the Model 3] the "biggest one-week “Launch of any Product” ever."
(>) This may or may not be a true… There will be signals 2 years from now as Model-3 Cars emerge from the Production-Line… But, there are many “assumptions” some of which may not come to fruition.
🚘 Elon Musk says in another portion of today’s tweet, going to his 3.7 Million Twitter Followers of which I’m one… revealed that only 5% of Model-3 Reservation customers, reserved TWO Model-3 Cars, the Maximum Tesla Permitted. Musk also tweeted, this suggested "low levels of speculation," or most buyers not looking to flip the car for a profit. The Reservation Agreement states that it is “not transferable.” This Means the Speculators, if any, would have to literally Buy the Car or 2 Cars outright, and thereafter re-Sell it/both as “Pre-Owned Cars” to the third-party.
🚘 Apple is the only other Company that comes to mind with huge product launches. Last September, 2015 [7 months ago] when Apple launched their new iPhone 6S, Apple actually Sold & Delivered over 13 Million iPhones in its opening 3-Day weekend. But, that’s iPhones at an average selling price [ASP] of $700/iPhone with no significant time delay for Store pick-up or Fed-Ex shipment. Multiply 13 Million iPhone sales by $700 iPhone ASP, the result equals $9 Billion of iPhones Sold, with Cash in their Bank. Apple’s $9 Billion in Sales in their 3-Day Sales Event is Impressive to say the least!
🚘 Tesla said 4 Days ago, it had received Three-Times the number of Reservations it originally anticipated, some 60,000. Now the number of Reservations is over Five-times that initial guesstimate. As previously reported [see 🔴🔴🔴 Previously Reported🔴🔴🔴 below] this level of Reservations albeit impressive, raises Questions about the Tesla’s ability to meet this increasingly complex Production Goal, namely plant expansion, capital requirements, building the supply-line to name a few. Recall that Tesla actually delivered about 50,000 Model-S Cars in 2015 and is ramping up its existing Plant to 100,000 Model-S Cars in 2016. Add to this hundreds of thousands of Model-3 Cars, this is a Massive Production Issue Tesla is facing, in the next 2 years.
🚘 Model 3 Reservation to Contract Conversion Ratio – The number of Reservations that actually convert to Contracts with at-risk Deposits. Tesla stands to generate huge revenues [depending on how many Reservations fall away due to delivery delays or the repricing of the Model-3 once it is actually being assembled]. Recall, with the early days of the Model-S, deliveries were slower than anticipated, and Pricing increased somewhat. Profitability remains an open question until actual Delivery Margins are determined.
🚘 Tesla says the number of preorders it has received in its 1st full Week, corresponds to $14 billion in Revenues in future Closed Sales. The Question remains, How Long will it take Tesla to deliver several hundred thousand Model-3 Cars. Tesla boasts that it was able to generate incredible level of Hype for the Model 3 without any dollars spent in Advertisements or "paid endorsements." The company has collected $325 million in cash, albeit refundable, for the Model 3 deposits paid. Fortunately for the more fickle, or the impatient folks that reserved a Car or two, the $1,000 deposits are refundable.
🚘 In the 4 decades that we’ve been reporting, We’ve never witnessed such a high number of reservations for any Automobile. For a very long time, the 12,000 orders written on the launch day of Citroen’s legendary DS in 1955, was considered as the “Sales Record-to-Beat.”
🚘 For the new Ford Fiesta, then the World’s Best Selling Cars, launched in 2011, the Ford Fiesta earned Headlines for receiving “6,000 reservations, and more than 100,000 folks with their hands-raised” signaling these folks “wanted one, months ahead of its actual Launch” as a Ford press release trumpeted then. Those with Hands-Raised did not have $1,000 deposits. By Year-End 2011, the Ford Fiesta sold over 781,000 Cars.
🚘 TESLA Unveiled its New Model-3 Affordable 4-Door, 5-Passenger Electric Vehicle to a VERY Enthusiastic Crowd. The Model-3 Car is Likewise Very Exciting, earning over 276,000 Reservations, equating to $11.5 Billion in Production Value, as of End-of-Day Saturday. These figures were received Sunday from Elon Musk at 2:28pm by his Tweet.
🚘 Elon Musk mentioned Sunday… “We will have to Totally Rethink the Production Plan…” in light of the huge number of Reservations. Before the Model-3 was open to pre-orders, Musk was imagining 50-to-60,000 pre-orders, towards their target GOAL of 500,000 Model-3 Cars, with a MULTI-Year delivery plan. Without question, the Buying Public is very excited about TESLA, the brand and the success of the Model-S; Model-3 pre-orders have already consumed more than half of TESLA’s sales Goal. TESLA has an Exciting Problem.
🚘 Perspective on Production Rates – TESLA delivered a bit over 50,000 Model-S Cars this year, equating to roughly 4,100 Cars/Month, it’s recent production rate. Let’s say TESLA is able to Scale-UP its Production Plant for Model-3 Cars, to 6,000 Model-3 Cars/Month (1,500/Week or 200/Day), I’d rate this figure as Optimistic on my part.
🚘 Let’s try a Production Volume of 1,500/Week representing a 150% increase over the current TESLA production figures for the Model-S and X Cars. 1,500 Cars/Week is still TOO much to expect, but… When your Company just booked just under 300,000 Reservations for your “New Baby” in only a few Days, management Energy level is Super-Hot, like Solar.
🚘 Let’s go with 6k Model-3 Cars per month as a 1st year Production GOAL; That’s roughly 150% of TESLA’s current production rate of the Model-S; granted the Model-3 may be a somewhat less complex assembly than the Model-S, but …
🚘 How long will it take to construct the necessary Factory Expansion? How long will it take to Acquire, Install and Program the Robotic Machinery? and then there is the MONEY Part. Plant and Equipment are not cheep, particularly when you’re in a Hurry. Tick-Tock-Tick-Tock…
🚘 At a Production Rate of 1,500 Model-3 Cars/Week, assuming TESLA is capable of scaling up to this level, it may likely take TESLA a number years, for Tesla to deliver all the Model-3 Reservations… An exciting problem to have. TESLA has Logistics issues in ramping up Production, the facilities, robotics, tooling, and personnel, to meet the demand of 276,000 pre-orders, which may grow to 400,000 Reservations before a shovel goes in the Ground for the Plant Expansion.
🚘 The graphic above provides a glimpse of how well TESLA sales compare against other brands of Luxury Vehicles over a two year period, 2014 and 2015. TESLA reports that it’s 2016 Sales of their Model-S and Model-X vehicles will comfortably exceed 50,000 Electric Cars.
🚘 Let’s not forget the Financing issues with Plant Expansion, Tooling, Robotics, Infrastructure, combined with the Dollars needed to increase the Plant Facilities, and Purchasing the Raw Materials for its custom components, the 8000 unique parts Supply-Line to Fabricate the Model-3 Cars.
🚘 I’ve been inside the finance industry as Director, Vice Chairman of the Board, CEO of several financial institutions. Sadly: When a Client is in a really Big Hurry with an Exciting Project, the Bankers are inversely proportional as to their Enthusiasm, and seem to move as slow as molasses in January. When you have your Luncheons & Dinner meetings, they seem sooo slooow… With such profound needs, “we don’t really want to Eat…” and then, they’ll get back to you with Q&A in a week or soooo… when we Need the Dollar Commitments in Days not Months… I’m getting a really big headache just thinking about all of this. ELON MUSK, I feel your Pain.
🚘 The Parochial Automotive Industry would love to have these issues. Aside from logistics, which is a huge undertaking, Financing becomes the FIRST major issue… $Billions, Lots of $Billions. Without huge levels of Fresh Capital in Hand, none of this begins. Without Question, Tesla will get the Funding Requirements they need, once they Qualify a Pool of the Reservations. Elon Musk and his Team are not sleeping much these days… Tick, tock, tick, tock… no time to waist.
🚘 OK, Let’s get Realistic. Elon Musk and his team thought they’d may have 60,000+ Reservations, and they’d add onto their existing facilities, department by department, expand here, expand there, move this, move that… Isn’t that nice… BUT
🚘 With the 300,000+ Reservations for M-3 Cars in only a few DAYS, a number FIVE TIMES more than anyone on the Team imagined, much less planned for. That’s the Key, no planning for this Huge figure. So Everything changes. That beautifully bound M-3 Production Plan is Totally obsolete.
🚘 TESLA’s Model-3 Production Plan needs to be totally rethought, so says Elon Musk by his Tweet, that’s a challenge. Tesla figuratively speaking has to “Build another FACTORY but BIGGER” than most of those buildings pictured below. How does TESLA do this FAST?
🚘 Important First Step. TESLA needs to “Qualify” a portion of the Reservations List. Convert a Pool of Reservations into Non-Refundable Contracts. For TESLA to engage in this Huge Plant Expansion, it needs to know How Many Reservations will become Real Sales. TESLA needs to know the Buyers are similarly committed to their Model-3 (Reservations) as Tesla is in their Delivery.
🚘 Let’s Play… Proceed with the first Pool of 80,000 Reservations, in Date Order. Congratulate each for being among the First to receive the Model-3. Tesla should not do this with a number of Pools of Reservations, as Tesla firms up their Plant Expansion Plan, Financing Commitments, Timing for both, Plant Production Rate, and a Schedule for the Model-3 Car Assembly…
🚘 Send 80,000 Reservation Holders a Conditional Sales Contract, each selects their Options, Add down for the “Total Purchase Price” of their Model-3. Let’s say the Total Price is, on average $42,000. Require a 15% Non-Refundable Deposit. For a $42k Car, the Deposit equals $6,300 including the $1000 Reservation deposit. The Client writes a non-Refundable Check in the amount of $5,300 to TESLA, and agrees that their $1,000 Reservation previously paid, becomes non-refundable. Alternatively, the Client passes on the deal and requests the return of their $1,000 deposit.
🚘 For more Confidence in Qualifying these Reservation Pools, increase the non-refundable deposit to 20%, probably the limit due to the lengthy delivery window. Use 15% for the First 80,000 reserved-pool, then increase to 20% for the next 80k reserved pool. May as well separate the Men from the Boys, sooner than later. These folks are not buying Chevy VOLTs that are sitting on car Lots – TESLA is building Custome Model-3 cars to Buyer Specification. Perhaps Elon Musk should sign a 3″ Tesla Logo, a Decal, and attach it to inside of the windshields, a sign of TESLA’s appreciation.
🚘 TESLA Must Know who are Committed Buyers and who are not. If 80%* of the 80,000 First Pool of Reservations become Buyers, then TESLA is fairly confident that 64,000 Model-3 Cars Buyers are committed with “at-risk” Contracts equating to $2.688 Billion Sales, with $403.2 Million in Non-Refundable Deposits. For this first Pool of Reservations, TESLA should have confidence in moving forward for their extensive Plant Expansion. Also, the 80%* Conversion Ratio (my guesswork) should give Tesla a “feel” for the balance of the Reservations. Recall we arbitrarily picked 80%*. No one really know.*
🚘 The CLOCK is TESLA’s enemy, as it surely does not want to loose [any portion of] these Pre-Sales, because of the Company’s failure to deliver in a reasonable amount of time. Think about it. It may take Tesla 18 months just to Build the Robotics, the Plant, the Infrastructure, the Power, the Water Resources, the Raw Materials, the Chemistry, the Storage Facilities, the Fire Protection. All to support an additional 6,000 Cars/Month Output, 150% more than the Model-S assembly-line production-rate (4,100 Cars/Mo) is currently handling. Imagine these logistics… OMG, let’s not forget building up the supply-line for all of the Model-3’s roughly 8,000 custom parts. All right enough Drama. It’s more fun to talk about that amazing Model-3
🚘 Model-3 combines real world Driving Range, 215 miles to 350 miles per Charge, Performance, Safety and Spaciousness into a premium sedan that only TESLA can build. TESLA’s most affordable car yet, Model 3 achieves a minimum of 215 miles of range per charge while Priced at only $35,000 before Tax incentives. Isn’t that nice… Ooops, here’s some more Drama.
🚘 Who in their Right Mind would think to Worry about Exceeding the Federal Limit for Buyers receiving their Tax Credits. Well, the Limit is apparently 200,000 Green Cars for each Manufacturer. It may be that 1/3rd of the Model-3 Reservations may not have the Tax Credit they counted on. Apparently the US Federal Tax Credit only applies to the first 200,000 Tesla Cars delivered. They’ll need a good Lawyer or two, to examine the Tax Code to see if the 50,000 Model-S deliveries have already “eaten into” the GREEN limit of 200,000 Cars per Company.
🚘 The Whitehouse wants everyone to Drive “GREEN” well here is a terrific opportunity for the President, the TESLA Model-3 is for the masses… Immediately below is the Link so you can Sign the Petition directed to the White House, making an appeal to extend [or remove] the current 200,000 limit/Car Model, that provides for a $7,500 Tax Credit; it’s very simple to complete, see the image below. We have a Readership of over 100,000 so let’s have everyone sign on… http://ift.tt/1pUCV2F
🚘 Model-3 is designed to attain the highest safety ratings in every category. After 10 years of hard work, Tesla has finally “revealed” the Model-3, the vehicle that CEO Elon Musk now knows, will take the Electric Vehicle, “EV” to the masses. When you see the interior of the Model-3, it’s like you are visualizing a Car decades into the Future.
🚘 Everything that controls the Car, except for Steering, is displayed on a 15″ Touch Screen, otherwise the “dash-board” is literally clear of any buttons, nobs, and gauges. TESLA engineers mention that the User Interface in the reveal, is not necessarily in final form. Looking at the Picture below, this is not an “Artists Rendering” of the Cockpit of the Model-3. The image below is the actual Model-3 Drivers Seat. When you view the Video Clips later in this article, you will see the Driver in this Car.
🚘 Truly futuristic. Remember this Car is equipped with true Auto-Pilot logistics and hardware. Most of the Car’s functions are selected by computer-Touch-Screen-control, shown on the 15″ high resolution LCD display, which has been brought Forward close to the Driver, so it’s in easy reach of the Driver, without having to lean-forward, an issue with the Model-S’s 17″ display mounted in the console.
🚘 At the unveiling of the Model-3 late Thursday evening and into the early morning of April 1st, at the company’s design studio in Hawthorne, California, TESLA’s CEO, Elon Musk said the car will deliver at least 215 miles range beginning at just $35,000, a bold claim, and an important milestone for Tesla to achieve. Musk is “confident” that deliveries will begin by the end of 2017, and “you will not be able to buy a better car for $35,000, even if you select no options.” “And it will be one of the safest cars in the world in every category” according to Musk.
🚘 Tesla reported more than 276,000 Pre-Orders have been placed, where buyers put $1,000 down, as of April 3rd, and that number will likely continue to increase. To bring these figures into perspective, as we are talking about Automobiles, not iPhones, 276,000 pre-Ordered Cars equates to roughly $276 Million in paid Deposits held for 20 months, equating to over $11.5 Billion in pre-sales, (Elon Musk is assuming $41.6k/Car). Pre-Sales of this magnitude is Huge, and Never heard of in the Auto Industry.
🚘 TESLA is creating the excitement that is routinely generated at Apple Product Releases. However, this is about Cars, not iPhones. The “standard” Model-3 will accelerate from 0-60 mph in less than 6 seconds, with upgraded versions that will go “much faster.”
🚘 Model-3 Options – If you choose the 4-wheel drive AWD option (ElonMusk said today this option will be priced under $5k) includes a front mounted electric motor, in addition to the “standard” rear-mounted main electric motor.
🚘 Model-3 Range will be at least 215 miles/charge, but Tesla Engineers hope to exceed this number in the final Production Car, with the advancement of the Battery technology, and optimized electronics over the next 18 months of pre-development. One of the Options will be a Larger Lithium battery array to extend the Range to 300+ miles/charge. No word yet on the option price for the larger LiON Battery.
🚘 All Model-3 cars will include [the internal electronics package] support for Tesla’s high-speed Supercharger Stations, because “it’s about going where you want to go,” according to Musk. With the Model-S the supercharger internal charging package was a $2,500+ option; For the Model-3 its included in the “standard” Car. By the end of 2017, when the Model-3 begins Car deliveries, Tesla says it will have a total of 7,200 Supercharger Stations in operation, which is double the number available today, and 15,000 charging locations.
🚘 Like the Model-S, the Model-3 will come with a powerful Rear-Wheel Drive electric Motor and an optional all-wheel drive version, plus there’s a 15″ landscape touchscreen LCD driver’s control-display an interesting change from the 17″ portrait touchscreen as in the Model-S and X. Autopilot hardware is standard, plus all safety features will be active automatically. Five adults will fit comfortably, “comfortably is the important part here,” says Musk.
🚘 The front-to-rear roof area, from the windshield all the way to the trunk, will be one continuous piece of structural-glass. And, just like the Model-S, the Model-3 will have front and rear trunks for storage. “More cargo capacity than any gasoline car of the same external dimensions,” says Musk. You can even fit a 7-foot long surfboard on the inside of the Model-3.
🚘 The two current Tesla vehicles, the Model-S and Model-X, are both relatively expensive. Even with tax incentives, both cars easily push $100,000. In order for Tesla to deliver 10-times as many cars as it now delivers, it needed a less expensive automobile in the lineup. That’s where the Model-3 comes in. The Model-3 is the future for TESLA.
🚘 Don’t expect to get your hands on a Model-3 until sometime in 2018 considering that there are over 276,000 pre-orders ahead of you. The Model-3 is expected to begin production in the 4th quarter of 2017, roughly 20 months from now. Tesla is currently accepting pre-orders for a modest $1,000 refundable down payment. Tesla plans to more than double the size of its retail Sales Stores and Service Centers [in the TESLA network] by the end of 2017, to Sell and Service all these new TESLA cars.
🚘 At the unveiling of the Model-3 Thursday evening, Elon Musk thanked Model-S and Model-X purchasers as these Sales Revenues helped to fund the development of the new Model-3 car. The Model-3 is the culmination of a full decade of hard work. Elon Musk is betting $Billions on TESLA, and it needs to deliver. The future of Tesla Motors, quite literally “rides on the success” of the Model-3. The incredible number of pre-sales, over 276,000, is an strong indication, TESLA is on its way to becoming a huge participant in the EV Automobile industry.
🚘 The Model-3 is the car Tesla Motors has promised since the company’s founding, the car that CEO Elon Musk is convinced, will push EVs into the mainstream and the technology to an inflection point. This is the car Musk believes will change the world. “It’s very important to accelerate the transition to sustainable transport,” Musk said on stage. “This is really important for the future of the world.” To View this TESLA Event on YouTube, and there are more Links below: https://goo.gl/uo5suC
🚘 In person and on paper, the Model-3 is a real “shocker”. It’s a very handsome sedan, with four doors, five seats, and all the creature comforts and practicality you’d expect of an upscale mid-size sedan. The Electric Propulsion, Battery System, and the Drive train are capable of 0-to-60 mph acceleration, at under 6-Seconds, plus a range of 215 miles/charge. It’s packed with technology, style, and at a bargain price as Tesla delivers it at the $35,000 base price, Musk promises you’ll pay. Musk also estimates that $6,600 in options will bring the average delivery price to $41,600.
🚘 For the first 200,000 sales of the Model-3 there will be a federal tax credit, according to current Law. The specs and price are key, because so far Tesla Motors has aimed squarely at the affluent buyer. The company’s first three models, the innovative Roadster sports car, exquisite Model-S sedan, and tech-slinging Model-X SUV, made electric cars fun, cool, and compelling. The Model-3 is meant to do something greater: sell to the masses, using electric car propulsion.
🚘 TESLA Model-3 is a very innovative passenger car. During its unveiling two days ago, we were able to capture several videos of brief guest-drives around the TESLA grounds in the late evening. The links below are YouTube videos to see the Model-3 captured from the front-passenger seat, and the back-seat. While watching these brief clips, take notice of the “Dash Board” other than the 15″ display to the right of the Driver’s view, the Dash-Board in front of the steering-wheel is totally blank, clean, no clutter whatsoever, as all of the controls and gauges are visible on the 15″ LCD display [which has been pushed forward towards the Driver] at “Screen-Center-Right” literally, within Easy Reach to the Driver without having to lean-forward.
🚘 TESLA Model-3 Revealed. Below are 5 of the Best Video Clip Links we’ve found, showing the First Reveal of TESLA’s new Model-3 in action, on the SHOW Stage and on the Road. These Videos are the Best part of this Article, as you’ll get to experience the Reveal SHOW Event as if you were there, plus the experiences of the Test Drives of several of the participants that attended the SHOW. Looking at the Dash Board, it is very Futuristic… what a Car would look like decades from now, but TESLA’s Model-3 is quite literally NOW.
🚘 First Look of Model-3 On-Stage: http://youtu.be/Jd_RXG_WZqQ
🚘 TMC Test-Drive of Model-3: http://youtu.be/TiWOKBMTDvc
🚘 First Test-Drive of Model-3: https://youtu.be/16SWVS56aZU
🚘 Second Test-Drive of Model-3: http://youtu.be/yTRL5u57ukE
🚘 TESLA Model-3 Unveiling 24 Minute Show: http://youtu.be/dmKvuRw4up4
🚘 Tesla is not alone, in hoping to do the remarkable and frankly, it was “beaten in the race” to build a $30K EV Auto with a triple-digit range by General Motors. However, this stat is where the comparison ends. In January, the Detroit stalwart introduced the 2017 Chevrolet VOLT, a battery electric hatchback with a range of 200 miles/charge, and a price of $37,500 and that’s where the comparison ends.
🚘 Musk isn’t the slightest bit worried about competition, and to be fair, has little reason to be. The Volt is impressive, but Tesla has the proven ability to get people very excited, and there’s no denying the company has a cachet many automakers only dream of…
🚘 Have You Ever seen thousands of people lining up outside Automobile Dealerships, waiting to place a $1,000 deposit on a Car they haven’t even seen yet… something that happened at many Tesla Stores last week. By the time Musk pulled the white-sheet off the Model-3 Thursday evening at the sprawling Space X campus in Hawthorne, California, 115,000 customers had already put their money down [$1000/car] and within 36 hours of the unveiling over 276,000 Model-3 Cars have been pre-Ordered, equating to about $11.5 Billion in pre-sales.
🚘 Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning founded Tesla Motors in 2003. Musk, flush with cash after selling PayPal to eBay for $1.4 billion, joined in early 2004 as its chairman and primary benefactor. He took over as CEO in 2008, shortly after the debut of the company’s first car, the Roadster. The two-seater was a “proof of concept” designed to show that these 2,400 Sports Car, EVs, could be cool. It was based on the Lotus Elise, as it could hit 60 mph in 3.7 Seconds, and squeezed a 245 range from a 950 pound LiON battery. Car & Driver called it “a revelation”. Tesla sold about 2,400 of these Sports Roadsters at $100k/car, in 4 years.
🚘 Then came the Model-S, a truly remarkable sedan good for almost 300 miles on a charge. Even now, four years after its debut, the sedan remains a marvel. It’s everything most people would ever dream of in a Car… It’s roomy, comfortable, practical, quick, and reliable, and gorgeous. Motor Trend and Automobile Magazine called it the “Car of the Year” in 2013, and Consumer Reports gave it its best Rating Score of 99+ the highest rating ever for any Car it tested in its entire 19 year history of testing.
🚘 TESLA’s 17″ LCD Display and user-interface and performance has steadily improved on the Model-S, using over-the-air [cellular] software updates similar to iPhone iOS updates to its operating system, to make every Model-S perform even better and to enhance the User-Interface of the 17″ display. Tesla made hardware changes too, offering an optional front-motor to provide four-wheel drive, motors in the Rear and Front, bigger batteries for greater range, improved electronics, and true Auto-Pilot delivering auto-self-driving capabilities. The 0 to 60 time plunged to a stomach-dropping 2.8 seconds, on par with mid-six-figure exotic cars.
🚘 Meanwhile, Tesla built an international network of 1,600 “superchargers” where owners can plug-in and charge the battery for free where one could charge their Tesla battery to 80% (230 miles of driving) in roughly 30 minutes. Tesla fought with local governments, for the right to sell cars directly to customers [without Dealerships]. It acquired an enormous factory once occupied by GM and Toyota. TESLA broke ground and almost fully completed, its “Gigafactory” where it works with Panasonic to build an unimaginable number of Lithium batteries, more battery power than all other Lithium Battery power factories combined, globally, in TESLA’s single humongous plant. In October, 2015 it introduced the Model-X, a handsome, falcon-winged SUV based on the Model-S, with Gull-Winged rear doors. With hundreds of thousand Model-3D preorders, TESLA will need their Gigafactory, which is their plan.
🚘 Tesla Model S Ranks Best Overall Car for 2014 by Consumer Reports, among 260 autos tested ~ Not only did Tesla Rank #1 Tesla scored the Highest Score ever Achieved in the Magazine’s 18 years of testing Cars ~ Plus What’s Not to Like about Driving for 3¢/mile when Gas costs 16¢/mile 🚘
🚘 Tesla Model S an all Electric LiON Battery Powered Car, Ranks as the Best Overall Car for 2014 by Consumer Reports, among 260 automobiles tested, whether fueled by electric batteries, gas or diesel fuel, or a hybrid of two fuels. Not only did Tesla Rank #1, it scored the Highest Score ever recorded in CR’s 18 year history of testing Cars.
🚘 Don’t know what TESLA is… In Physics Class we learned about the Tesla Coil, a high-voltage frequency generator. The Tesla Coil is one of Nikola Tesla’s most famous invention in 1891. See Tesla and his inventions below.
🚘 Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA:US) has earned the ardor of investors and the highest U.S. safety ratings. It can also add the honor of having the best-reviewed car of the year by automobile testers at Consumer Reports, earning the Highest score ever of 99 given in Consumer Reports 18 year history of reviewing Cars.
🚘 Consumer Report summarizes their study saying "Sure, you can talk about this electric luxury car’s blistering acceleration, razor-sharp handling, compliant ride, and versatile cabin, which can fit a third-row of seats. But that just scratches the surface of this technological tour de force."
🚘 Consumer Reports editors further say "The Tesla is brimming with innovation. Its massive, easy-to-use 17" touch-screen controls most of the car’s functions. Tesla is totally keyless in operation, locking, unlocking, starting, full Internet access, and ultra-quiet, zero-emission driving experience, the Tesla is a glimpse into a future where cars and computers coexist in seamless harmony. Its 275-mile driving range and 3-hour charges, using Tesla’s special connector, also make it the easiest, most practical, albeit pricey, electric car to live with."
🚘 “It’s truly a groundbreaking car,” Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports’ director of auto testing who oversaw this year’s review of 260 vehicles, said an interview. “You get into it, and it really stands out. It’s the very best car I’ve ever driven.”
🚘 Consumer Reports tests and evaluates cars for how well they drive, interior-finish quality, safety and reliability. The model rankings influence car buyers and are published in the Yonkers, New York-based magazine’s annual auto issue.
🚘 It was interesting researching how Consumer Reports tests each of the 260 vehicles this year. Each car is driven about 6000 miles while the evaluation teams assess every imaginable function and quality of the cars under examination.
🚘 Today’s TESLA is a very exciting Luxury Battery Powered automobile with a 275 mile range.
🚘 In appearance the Tesla does not just "gets on terms" with the two-plus-two Aston, it almost cinches it. The sweeping lines and a callipygous rear give the Tesla the look of a concept car. But this is no Concept car with limited delivery, as Tesla has ramped up production to over 25,000 units/year. The door handles motor-out to meet you (one of a number of motorized functions) and the doors swing wide.
🚘 Inside is Tesla’s cabin Very Unconventional, it’s almost the appearance of a Science Fiction Futuristic Auto. The seating are cantilever-mounted onto a flat-floor, with an uncluttered full-width floor space. A dramatic digital instrument panel in front of the driver central-displays show charge level, power usage, range, and speed.
🚘 The central facia has the appearance of a very large Touch-Screen iPad, (but its not) with simple and classy Apple-style graphics, that controls most of the Car’s functions, Mapping, Directions, tailored to go with Mercedes-Benz-styled switches and steering column stalks.
🚘 Tesla Model S electric car is “the answer” I’ve personally been looking for. I have remained on the side-lines with all electric cars because of two reasons: (1) most of the offerings look like "soup-cans with wheels and windows" (not so with the Tesla, as its stunningly attractive inside and out) and (2) they have such a limited Range most under 100 miles, one "can not drive it out of town" (not so with the Tesla as it can deliver 300 miles in Range.
🚘 One wonders if the other Car-makers have been sleeping on the job. With Tesla’s share-price on fire after recently announcing plans for a new battery “gigafactory” (now, that’s a factory), confirming next year’s SUV, the Model-X, and a smaller, cheaper model (like $36k) for 2017. Today there’s barely a Silicon-Valley baron or Hollywood Star without a Model S in their Garage.
🚘 Tesla is Fueled by a huge, flat, Lithium Ion battery, a single unit that delivers 85,000 Watt-hours of power. The Battery lines almost the entire bottom of the floor-board; however, the Battery is very well protected. To put this Battery in perspective, a 85kWhr of battery power is equivalent to about 16,200 iPhone-LiON-Batteries all linked together into a single huge flat-battery-array.
🚘 The LiON battery in the Tesla Model-S contains a unique LiON battery-chemistry so that it delivers power and takes recharge cycles for at least 8 years, equivalent to the Tesla battery-warranty, with unlimited miles.
🚘 Surely, now that Tesla has proven to the marketplace that an attractive well designed Car with good range can be delivered in mass quantities. Also, since Tesla is expanding its assembly plants to grow production by 50% this year and next, Battery Technology will be the focus for these fine Cars. Surely, Tesla wants to increase its Model-S Range to 400 miles then to 500 miles, since Electric fueling stations are not as populated as Gasoline stations.
🚘 When viewing Tesla’s Model-S at the retail-store in our Boca Raton Town Center Mall, they have several fully assembled, ready to drive Cars, and two Cars that were apparently taken off the assembly-line, displaying the beautifully engineered frame, battery array, the steering points, the motor and inverter package at the car’s rear-end. Very Impressive displays making it clear to anyone, engineer or house-wife, that this Car is an engineering marvel, that gives the quality feeling that Apple delivers with their products, with an obvious display of an incredible level of attention to every minute element of detail.
🚘 Tesla SuperChargers recharges Model S quickly, Super quickly. Superchargers are for refueling quickly on road trips. A Supercharger can replenish 50% the 85 kWh battery in about 25 minutes. All Model S vehicles with the 85 kWh battery can use SuperChargers as can properly equipped 60 kWh battery vehicles. SuperCharger (Electric) Fuel Stations will be positioned at convenient locations along major interstates throughout the country.
🚘 Tesla SuperCharger stations the Cost for a "Full Tank of Electricity" is FREE, although it costs Tesla say $300,000 per station. Tesla considers this fueling feature as a Marketing Expense, to make it clear to Tesla Owners, and those interested in buying a Tesla Car, that they can get a "Fill-Up" when going out of town. In a Hurry, no problem, the Super-Charger Stations will have two "Fueling" modes, Plug in your Tesla Model S for 20 minutes for 100 miles of Range, 40 minutes for 200 miles of Range or 60 minutes to "Fill the Tank" in this case a fully recharged battery.
🚘 Tesla’s Free Fueling feature is considered a "Marketing Expense" where these costs are not "built into the price of their cars." Recall that a fill-up costs Tesla about $9, assuming an electric utility cost of 11¢ per kilowatt, typical in the USA.
🚘 A major Free-Fueling costs facing Tesla is the development of the Fueling Station Network, the real estate and construction costs, estimated to be approximately $300,000 per station. This expense could be amortized over say 20 years, making this a $15,000/year per Station, expense to the financial statement.
🚘 SuperCharger Stations. If Tesla builds 500 SuperCharger Nation-Wide Network, the depreciation expense would be on the order of $7.5 million/year. If every SuperCharger Station with 3-fueling lanes were charging for 24 hours/day, this represents 26,000 fill-ups/year per Station; Assuming the electric-utility cost is $9/Fill-Up, then each staton would expense $234,000/year per station, which equates to about $115 million/year for the Nation-Wide network of 500 SuperCharger stations.
🚘 With 150,000 Tesla Cars on the Road planned, the Annual expense for SuperCharger Stations equates to about $800/Tesla, a Very imaginative use of marketing dollars. This represents a 1% marketing component per car, not a large figure indeed. By the end of 2015 Tesla will have enough SuperCharger Stations to cover 98% of the Population in the US and portions of Canada.
🚘 Tesla SuperCharger Stations have another Amazing feature, the capability of the Model-S receiving a 100% Full-Charge in 95 Seconds with a "Battery Replacement" performed at the station. Just pull-up over a designated area, and your Model-S’ Battery is dropped-down with automation, and a New Fully-Charged Battery is pushed-backup into your Model-S in about 1 minute 30 seconds. Tesla literally swaps your car’s battery for a new battery that has been already fully-charged.
🚘 I witnessed two Model-S cars in line at a Tesla SuperCharger Station, (a video-clip is provided below) that received Lion Battery swaps for two Tesla’s in line, requiring about 3 minutes total time for both Model-S cars, 90 seconds each. Filling your 23 Gallon Tank with Gasoline takes about 4 minutes. This service costs $80 for the 85 kWhr battery-swap or $60 for the 60 kWhr battery. When you return from your trip, go back to the same SuperCharger Station that swapped your battery, and the station then re-Swaps your Car’s original LiON battery fully-charged.
🚘 The $80 cost for the 90 second fill-up costs about 26¢/mile if you’re in a hurry. Not in a hurry go for the SuperCharger and wait 30 to 45 minutes to "Top-Off your Tank" for Free. While you have a travel-break, at the Coffee shot near-by. Recall, if you have an iPhone, the App will keep you posted on the Battery Level as it Fills with electric-power. How Cool is that!
🚘 If you decide to retain the NEW LiON Battery, in other words, you don’t re-Swap batteries, Tesla will "Charge" you (pardon the pun) the price difference between your original LiON battery, and the price of a New LiON battery. This may be your plan, say in Year Two or Three, as aged LiON Batteries may only accept 90% to 95% charges. No figures are available on this option, as these swap-stations are scheduled for later in 2015.
🚘 The Cost of a new 85 kWhr LiON Battery is $12,000. If you decide to retain the New Battery Swap, the question is what is the "trade-in" value for your existing Model-S battery that’s 2 or 3 years old. The SuperCharger Battery Swap capability commences in 2015 nation-wide, so the financial models are not set as to the price for the battery swap, if you decide keep the new battery. Since the Model-S battery is warrantied for 8 years, if charging performance diminishes in Range, I’d be looking to the factory warranty to replace the battery.
🚘 Tesla is developing hundreds of SuperCharger Stations in the USA as an amazing marketing campaign as the "Fill-Ups" are Free. Think about it, travel to Grandma’s with no cost for Fuel, in Tesla’s case, electricity.
🚘 The Control Panel in each Tesla Model-S has a beautiful Google Maps styled GPS Map, showing in real-time, every location of a SuperCharger Station, and your location of the Model-S, giving detailed directions if necessary, and your Tesla’s Range to arrive the SuperCharger station. The GPS is also functional to input your destination. For the local folks in south Florida, there is a SuperCharger Station near MACY’s Front door in the parking garage of the Town Center Mall, and two others 25 miles south in Fort Lauderdale and 25 miles north of Boca Raton.
🚘 Tesla Superchargers allow Model S owners to travel for free between cities along well-traveled highways in North America and Europe. Superchargers provide a 50% charge in as few as 20 minutes and are strategically placed to allow owners to drive from station to station with minimal stops, or fear of running our of "Fuel." The Coverage for North America already provides for Coast-to-Coast driving. Here are Tesla’s Plans for SuperCharger station development:
✔️ Today, First Quarter, 2014 – 78 stations, Coast-to-coast travel now enabled
✔️ 2014 – 80% of the US population Covered plus portions of Canada
✔️ 2015 – 98% of the US population Covered plus parts of Canada
🚘 Superchargers are located near amenities like roadside diners, cafes, and shopping centers. Road Trippers can stop for a quick meal and have their Model S charged when they’re done.
🚘 Tesla Model S cost for a Fill-Up equates to about $0.0311/mile. For a 275 mile range assuming you use Airconditioning, 275x$0.0311 equates to a Fill-Up cost of $8.50, assuming the Electric utility charge of 11¢/kWatt, that Tesla pays for, a typical rate in south Florida. To Fill-Up your typical gasoline 4-Door Sedan automobile with 12.5 Gallons of Gas priced at $3.85/gallon costs $48.00, assuming the MPG is about 22 mpg vehicle, delivering the same range.
🚘 To this point in this Article its been all about Good Looks and the Battery. Lets now turn our attention to the Motor. One of the Demands by Elan Musk to his engineering team, is to have this vehicle powered by a strong engine, so that the buyer of a Tesla Model-S will not feel like there has been compromise in power or performance. Let it be said that a 416hp electric Motor rotating at around 6500 RPM generates an amazing level of Acceleration. There is simply NO Compromise with this electric engine.
🚘 Model S is a rear wheel drive electric vehicle. The liquid-cooled powertrain includes the battery, motor, drive inverter, and gear box. 60 kWh or 85 kWh microprocessor controlled, lithium-ion battery, a rear mounted 3-phase, 4-pole AC induction-motor with a copper rotor, creating 416hp; That’s dramatic amount of Horse Power, a Power Drive Inverter with variable frequency drive, a regenerative braking system, and a single-speed-reduction, Fixed-Gear ratio of 9.73:1 reduction ratio.
🚘 Tesla Model-S Power Train and Motor. The Electric motor powering the Model-S is a 416hp alternating current, variable frequency design. The motor itself weighs approximately 250 pounds, with a Copper-Wound Rotor, the internal component that rotates with a Gear on its shaft. Interesting that the Motor is Super-Power A/C motor, and the Battery is a 85 kWhr LiON direct current. Directly right of the rear-mounted Motor is a Power-Inverter that transforms up to 1200 Amps of DC electricity to A/C power, powering the Motor.
🚘 The Motor has a Running Rate of 5,000 to 8,000 RPM. There is Single-Gear reduction of 9.73 to 1 (no gear-shifting as with typical automobile transmissions). Therefore with a Rotor that weighs about 50 pounds rotating at an average speed of say 6,500RPM causes the drive shaft to rotate at about 500 RPM to 800RPM, this represents an incredible amount of power on the Wheels.
🚘 The Tesla motor’s Rotor weighing in at about 50 pounds, that is spinning at an average of 6500RPM, generates a huge level of power on the rear wheels. The velocity of Tesla’s motor, the RPM is controlled by changing the Frequency of the Alternating Current combined with the amount of Amperes of electric current, up to 1,200 amps when desiring fast acceleration from a dead-stop or changing lanes on a highway. This combination of factors controls the power, the driver desires by pressing one’s foot on the accelerator-pedal. Lots of very unique electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and design, to accomplish this seamlessly to the Driver, and totally Quietly. The lack of any Engine and Transmission Noise is very strange at first.
🚘 Recall that a typical gasoline motor runs from 800 RPM to 3,500 RPM, that runs very hot, in combination with a 5-speed transmission and a Transaxle, that also becomes very hot as it consumes energy, a very inefficient method of changing the rotation of the drive-shaft, wasting about 40% of the gasoline engine’s power. What a waist of power and fuel.
🚘 Think about it, with a 400hp gasoline engine, 160hp is lost because of the inefficiencies of the transmission and the transaxle. Which means that only 240hp of power, of the 400ph gasoline engine, gets to the wheels. With Tesla’s electric engine 90% of the power gets directly to the rear wheels.
🚘 Tesla’s precocious car maker has Big ambitions. He originated PayPal 11-years ago making hundreds of $Millions. In top-spec $124,000 as-tested form, this 16ft 4in long, five-door battery-electric coupé will not only out drag a $250,000 loaded Aston Martin, but Tesla carries two more passengers or twice as much stuff and, at 4,200 pounds, weighs not much more.
🚘 Stand on it, and the Aston will drain its 20 gallon tank of unleaded in about 250 miles, well within the realistic driving range of the 85kWh Tesla S range of 275 mile. What’s not to like about battery motoring? Not to mention that the Tesla Model-S, a luxury-sedan, goes from Zero to 60 MPH in 4.7 seconds.
🚘 The Tesla Model S electric sedan is Number One in Consumer Reports, in this year’s automotive rankings. Not only Tesla being in first place, but received the highest score ever recorded in its 18 year history of evaluating 260 vehicles.
🚘 The magazine cited the Model S’s sporty performance and technological innovations, including its 275 mile range. Consumer Reports acknowledged that the car is expensive and paid $89,650 for the Model S that the Magazine tested.
🚘 For less than a third of that price, the Toyota Prius hybrid got the nod as Consumer Reports’ top green car. The magazine also cited strong fuel economy in naming the Honda Accord as the top midsize car and the BMW328i as the best sports sedan.
🚘 The rankings, now in their 18th year, pick Consumer Reports’ favorites among the 260 vehicles its team has recently tested. The rankings are closely watched in the auto industry, since shoppers consistently cite Consumer Reports as a main source of car-buying advice.
🚘 Consumer Reports actually buys the test-vehicles anonymously, and performs more than 50 tests on each, including evaluations of braking, handling and comfort, among en elaborate array of tests and examinations. Consumer Reports’ testing team literally drives each vehicle for roughly 6,000 miles, in assessing the vehicle’s performance on the road in a wide variety of environments and road conditions.
🚘 Tesla Model S Ranks Best Overall Car for 2014 by Consumer Reports among 260 autos tested. Not only did Tesla Rank #1, Tesla scored a value of 99 the Highest Score ever Achieved in the Magazine’s 18 years of testing Cars.
🚘 Plus What’s Not to Like about Driving a Tesla Model-S Electric Car for 3¢/mile when Gasoline Cars cost over 16¢/mile, that’s over 500% more expensive.
🚘 Did I mention that Tesla has an iPhone App that will permit you to find the car with GPS that remains active even when the Car is parked and shut-down. The Tesla App will permit you to TURN-ON Tesla’s Air Conditioning system when the Car is parked and Locked.
🚘 With your Tesla, if you’re at a lunch meeting with car parked outdoors in the direct Sun in the summer time, you can use your iPhone Tesla App, Power-Up Tesla’s A/C System say 10 minutes before the end of your Luncheon, so that the Car is Cooled-down when you retrieve your Tesla from the parking lot. The App also permits you to Honk the Horn or Flash the Lights, to either scare away possible intruders, or as a visual or audio Tool so you can find your Car in Large Parking Lots2.
🚘 Steven Spielberg was recently spotted in Brentwood California driving the his Tesla Model S, an all electric automobile, while heading to a high powered Hollywood luncheon. Apparently, more and more celebrities find the Tesla an attractive vehicle and more importantly they love the fact that it is environmentally friendly.
🚘 It seems the famous 67 year-old screenwriter, producer, and business magnate left all the Porches and Maybachs and went for a Tesla model S. The Tesla is actually fits the famed director quite well as if we were to discuss the vehicle’s interior, we’ll come across a very science-fiction like cabin. The seats are cantilevered mounted onto a flat-floor, an uncluttered full-width floor space, making the Tesla S model’s interior quite unconventional.
🚘 Don’t know what TESLA is… In Physics Class we learned about the Tesla, but it wasn’t an unbelievable Electric Automobile. The video clip directly below is a demonstration of the Model-S getting a "battery-swap" at Service Centers to have this capability in 2015.
🚘 Don’t know what TESLA is… In Physics Class we learned about the Tesla Coil, a high-voltage frequency generator. The Tesla Coil is one of Nikola Tesla’s most famous invention in 1891.
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