Tesla quietly abandons the option of "autonomous driving" by adding $ 45,000 to the model 3

Elon Musk took to Twitter (Where else, right?) Thursday night to inform his supporters of a new addition to the model lineup 3. This is not however the long-awaited version of $ 35,000; the mid-range model 3 starts at $ 45,000. Musk also revealed that the ordering process for Model 3 had been simplified and now had fewer options. A missing option – in all new Tesla orders, and not just in model 3 – is the controversial option of "total self-driving". The reason? This "caused too much confusion" Musk tweeted.

Mid-range models will only be rear-wheel drive, prompting some to question whether the company is using software to limit the battery's capacity on existing RWD inventory to get it out of the door. But Tesla says that he is able to build these cars slightly cheaper by using the same battery as the more expensive and longer-range cars, but with fewer cells inside (so no upgrades future software will not be able to increase their autonomy later).

However, Tesla estimates that the car costs only $ 30,700, taking into account "fuel savings" and all possible tax incentives for federal and local electric vehicles (but not destination charges). What he did was a little surprising; Just seven days ago, Tesla said it could not guarantee that an order received after October 15 would be shipped before the start of next year. Any new Tesla delivered after January 1, 2019 (but before July 1, 2019) is only eligible for a credit of $ 3,750 IRS. Tesla said the delivery of the new mid-range model 3 should take between six and ten weeks.

The cheaper 3 "standard" model is still missing from the new simplified ordering page and the company did not hide that it could not afford to lose money by selling cheaper cars, whatever the demand. Musk to have a reference to that the cheapest model 3 could arrive early next year, tweeting that shipping cars with partially full batteries was better than waiting until February.

Potential customers in countries other than the United States and Canada will also have to wait. We asked Tesla why he was adding a new Model 3 configuration instead of selling higher margin all-wheel drive models in other markets, but we have not received a response. With regard to European homologation, your hypothesis is as good as ours.