The shenanigans of Tesla Model 3 become ridiculous

Thursday, Tesla announced changes in its range of vehicles. The company's press release on the subject begins innocently by mentioning that these changes "will simplify vehicle choices" and "make the autopilot more affordable".

But the most interesting part is buried a little lower in the text: the Standard Range variant of Model 3, the $ 35,000 version promised by Elon Musk four years ago, is no longer available on the site Tesla Web.

The range of vehicles to which Tesla refers is the fact that all Tesla cars are now delivered with the integrated autopilot as standard. It's a bit cheaper than before, but it's also something you can not leave (except for the 3-priced model). Previously, for example, the Standard Plus 3 model cost $ 37,500 and the autopilot was offered as an option at $ 3,000. From now on, the standard 3 plus model can only be purchased with the autopilot provided at a price of $ 39,500, which allows you to save $ 1,000.

But this model of $ 39,500 is also the cheapest 3 model you can order on the Tesla website.

The standard 3 model is still available, but not online – you have to call Tesla or go to a Tesla store to buy it. And its reach is limited to 10%, and many of its features will be disabled by software, including streaming music, navigation with live traffic viewing and heated seats. Buyers will be able to upgrade to Standard Plus at any time and previous buyers to Standard Plus will be able to downgrade to the Standard version and get a refund. It should be noted however that the interior of the Standard Plus is a little more beautiful than the one originally promised by the Standard.

Tesla explains that the Standard Plus is more popular than the Standard model. The company has therefore "made the decision to simplify our production operations to optimize costs, minimize complexity and streamline operations."

But given all that we know about Model 3, it's much more likely that the company simply will not be able to make money with the $ 35,000 model and does everything that is in his power to dissuade customers from buying it. And by further narrowing the price gap between this model 3, the cheapest, and now disabled, and the Standard Plus variant, the company is essentially drawing $ 4,500 more from customers with conditions that leave a bitter taste in the mouth.

Tesla mitigates all this by introducing leasing for model 3 (only in the United States). But the leasing is a little different from the possession, and it should be noted that customers who rent the car will not be able to buy it at the end of the lease.

The $ 35,000 electric sedan that was not

Let's go back a bit in July 2014, when Elon Musk mentioned for the first time the base price of Model 3 of 35,000 USD. He repeated it, officially, in January 2015, promising that the price would not include tax incentives. Musk promised that the car would be delivered to customers by the middle of 2017 or perhaps by the end of 2017. Tesla has only delivered 1,542 model 3 cars in 2017. The production rate has increased sharply in 2018 , but even in this case, only the most expensive variants of the car were available. In February 2019, model 3 at basic price is finally available, but deliveries have still not started a month later. And in the press release issued on Thursday, the company announced that model 3 deliveries at $ 35,000 would begin "this weekend."

Being late is one thing. But in recent months, Tesla has started to be very creative in how it communicates prices and makes changes to its range. In February, Musk said Model 3 is already $ 35,000, if you count tax incentives and fuel savings – even if this price had been promised originally before the incentives. Later that same month, the company announced that it would close most of its stores in order to reduce costs, before going back and declaring that it would not close as many stores as it did. It would do so, but that it would increase the price of cars (the price increase did not apply to model base price 3).

Until now, with a little mental gymnastics and pink-tinted glasses, Tesla could still be forgiven for the constant delays of model 3 at base price. Elon Musk openly stated that having a low price at $ 35,000 was "great". difficult "(see tweet above), and it appeared that the company was doing its best to make this happen.

A hidden car with fewer features

But this last change of scale is a slap for every potential customer who still hoped to get a model 3 of $ 35,000. This particular model is now hidden from the Tesla website and its features have apparently been further reduced – the next available template you can get. is $ 2,000 more expensive than it was. Imagine pre-ordering an iPhone, then get it two years later and be told that it costs $ 50 more or Apple takes half of the storage memory.

Let's take a look at the importance of removing the cheapest model 3 from the Tesla site. We are talking about a company that first sells cars online, followed by far by the physical outlets. In fact, even if you go to a Tesla point of sale and decide to make a purchase, you will normally be guided by the command of a Tesla on your phone (presumably, the order process of a model 3 at basic price will now be different). . When he announced the availability of Model 3 at the base price in February, Tesla literally said that he "was transferring sales worldwide only online" – and that this model is no longer available in line.

It should also be mentioned that model 3 is a much better car with the autopilot. Even Tesla, in his latest PR, now claims that the autopilot is "very important", and Musk himself said that same thing back in 2017, referring to the fact that the model 3 has only a central screen and no head-up display. But the 3-priced model still has no autopilot.

Tesla is free to price his cars as he wishes. But let 's not forget that many potential customers actually spent $ 1,000 to book their place and buy a model 3, many of them several years ago. And we promised these people to buy a 35,000 model. They can still get it – with a huge delay – but it's probably not the car they wanted. For this, they will have to pay (at least) $ 4,500 more.

The promise of Musk all these years ago, which was to market a mid-size electric sedan worth $ 35,000, is a goal that the company has not spared for its success. But with these changes, perhaps we should all accept the notion that Model 3 is a $ 39,500 car.

UPDATED: April 12, 2019, 4:08 pm EST The article has been updated to clarify that the Premium Plus Premium Premium partial interior trim is somehow an improvement over the promised Standard interior trim for the original 3-price model, but the rest – in the current state of things – never see the light of day. We contacted Tesla for a complete list of the differences between Standard and Standard Plus models, model 3.