Red Teslas costs more now, but people will continue to pay for it

Image: Drew Angerer / Getty Images

Tesla's paint colors have been reduced over the past few days to help increase production and now, the electric car manufacturer is increasing the price of its iconic red option.

For model 3, the most affordable and the most backward sedan, a red "multi-layer" paint reached $ 2,500 this weekend. Previously, there was $ 2000 for the red color. As Electrek pointed out, when model 3 was first produced, red cars were available for $ 1,000.

A spokesman for Tesla wrote in an email on Sunday: "We occasionally adjust prices and options available to better reflect the value of our products and streamline our manufacturing operations.

Now, only solid black comes with the basic price of the car. Pearl white is $ 2,000 and blue and silver $ 1,500. Other cars, like the fully electric Nissan Leaf, offer all the colors (even if there is no red available) at no additional charge.

Musk announced that Tesla's silver and black were "off the menu" last week and would cost $ 2,000. He also noted the Dexter-as conditions who have just painted a red car.

But that did not stop people from wanting the red car – and the higher price will not be either.

Jenny Newman, editor of Cars.com, told me in a conversation last month: "Color matters to many consumers".

Last year, Electrek conducted a survey to find out what were the colors of the buyers of the model 3: silver, blue, then red in the first three.

A recent study showed that the more unusual the color of your car, the higher the value you get from it. Orange, yellow and green cars have the lowest depreciation rates.

Newman of Cars.com said that red usually falls in the middle of the path of depreciation, but for future Tesla sellers used, red could be a smart move, even more expensive. It's a simple supply and demand – with fewer brightly colored cars, or in the case of Tesla, in red, when it comes time to sell it, you can sell it more expensive.

She also said that the colors of the cars, like a bright red, are more vocal among buyers, particularly "for someone who sees the car as an extension of what it is."