>

Not when orders are 150k lower than deliveries for the last quarter.
They did this so the long range model Y will qualify for the $7500 credit >

And the Model X weights over 6,000lbs, so it sells b/c business owners can deduct the full price.
A huge portion of Tesla's success is b/c of taxpayer funding....Elon shouldn't receive all the profits. >

Thats the whole goal of the taxpayer funded incentives: to get companies to produce electric cars when they otherwise wouldnt be profitable. Seems like its worked really well >

Seems like but isn't >

What is the goal of taxpayer funded incentives then? >

One initial goal is to help jumpstart a new technology that has high adoption barriers vs an entrenched industry. Companies will produce what they wouldn't have otherwise, leading to technological advancements and economies of scale, reducing prices. Happened with hybrids (also appliances, lighting) and it's happening with EVs. That's the part the comment above deliberately leaves out. It's sort of a chicken and egg problem initially. Companies won't invest in something not profitable in short or medium term. But without production, the technology doesn't improve so we're stuck. 
Another goal is to reward technologies that pollute less and use less fossil fuels, sort of like carbon pricing but using incentives on the cleaner technology side rather than fees. >

You just said essentially the same thing as /u/PicklePanther9000 except with more words. >

After having raised prices 20%. 
The “affordable” model 3 was supposed to be around $30-35k. It’s now priced at $48,190 to start. >

It used to be $35k, but that was pre-covid. 
It's now dropped to $43 990 from $46 990. 
Almost back to the old SR+ pricing. >

Still exceeds 2020 pricing by at least $4k >

One day I can finally get my model 3 below 35k!
Ha, I kid.
Looks like it will be a bolt or equinox. >

I am waiting for the Ford Maverick to go all EV. >

A reasonably sized EV truck would be awesome. >

Ford trademarked “Ranger Lightning” and “Maverick Lightning”.
Personally I think it will be a Ranger EV built on the new platform and a Maverick PHEV because there isn’t ability to add an EV battery without a complete redesign but there is space for a PHEV batter under the rear seats.
They also wouldn’t canibalize each others sales as much. >

PHEV would be great good too.  If it can cover day driving, and then use gas for trips and heavier loads.
/Volt Owner >

And for the “I live in the city but do a road trip to moms 800 miles away once a year and haul drywall twice a year” they can just get gas once every other month, on road trips, and while hauling people and shit in the back >

Honestly, a PHEV Maverick would be perfect for me. >

It's over. People will just buy EVs from real car companies >

The funny thing is: 
For the 43 billion Elon spent on a now languishing smart phone app, Twitter... 
Elon could have bought an entire prestigious, evolved real car company! (More than one, even, for that money.) 
For example: Honda's market cap value is less than the 43 billion Elon spent on Twitter. And sure: not that he could have actually bought Honda--I don't know about international investment regulations, though I doubt Japan would allow that to happen. 
But still: the theoretical idea that Elon could have bought Honda for cheaper than he paid for Twitter, just gives you an astonishing example of what an insanely bad, draining waste of money that investment was for him in Twitter, that could have been utilized in countless other far more obvious beneficial ways for him, and his current holdings. >

He paid three times what Twitter was worth on a good day, and put the rest of his fortune in play and jeopardy at the same time. It’s astonishing, really. >

Indeed: absolute insanity. 
If he had only A) Just shut up on Twitter, and B) Spent that 43 billion merging Tesla with a well known car brand... 
Just think of where the Tesla share price, and optimistic outlook for Tesla might be today, instead of the current debacle. At the very least, share price would absolutely be higher than it is today, that's for certain. >

Twitter doesn't make money. It's only value is pushing political propaganda. >

That’s exactly why he bought it >

or he's just an idiot. >

It’s for propaganda. The countries backing the purchase all pay for botting to influence their own elections or media. >

Elon made driving a Tesla cringe >

BMW should be paying for Elon’s drinks forever. They always got the douche driver moniker and now Tesla has taken that over. Now when I see a BMW driver I think it’s quaint. 
I got high beamed on the freeway the other day by a Tesla driver because I changed into the lane he was in. You would think I probably cut him off right? He was about 300 feet back. Was I going slow? No I was riding a 6 cylinder motorcycle that goes 0-60 in 2.6 seconds, hard to go slow on that. 
He just decided it was his lane and no one else could be in it. >

More likely the tesla was on autopilot, you were right at the edge of it's detection range, and the driver was panicking in trying to figure out how to turn the high beams off and mentally apologizing for high beaming you. The whole forced-ish auto highbeams suck, and they really hide how to turn that off. >

They don’t hide it at all. You push the left stick forward. >

You missed the auto part. >

No I didn’t. When you enable autopilot you can toggle auto high beams with the left stick. It turns them on by default, but you can turn them off.
Also, since a software update a couple months ago they have been working well, so I just leave them on now. >

wonder why that happened, said no one >

With all of the actual car companies now jumping feet first into EV's, I cant see myself buying a Tesla under any reasonable circumstances. >

You must not like road tripping >

The fast-charging network for non-Tesla EVs in the U.S. is notoriously unreliable and inconvenient. Yes, you can road trip, but expect a lot of range anxiety and much longer charging times. The Tesla experience is convenient and reliable and adds only a few percent compared to an ICE vehicle.
Rich Rebuilds (no Tesla fanboy, after they screwed him) did a recent video about road tripping in a Rivian. TLDW: it was a nightmare. >

Yes, and he kept saying how much better the Tesla charging experience is. >

Well I already pointed out that the Rivian is specifically deficient in this and that there are several alternatives. >

Are they gonna start making them repairable or nah? >

I've done a repair on my own, turned out to be real easy. I broke my charge port door mishandling it, it's not major bmor anything. >

Sorry Elon, you lost me already >

My impression is
* the first Teslas were rated the best cars ever made
* then the quality tanked
* then they became the My Pillow of automobiles
Cutting prices makes sense. >

The first Teslas, objectively, were in no way, share or form "the best cars ever made"
That's just fucking ridiculous. >

My impression is that they had good battery management, at least for a while, and initial impressions were mostly being wowed at the benefit of a high-power EV drivetrain rather than anything inherent to Tesla. It was a "first [big] mover" thing, in my view. >

I think a major part was just that Tesla was the first real electric car that wasn't an abomination, and was available to "everyone". Compared to what people were used to, they were the "Best (electric, available) car ever made (so far)". Sure, electric cars existed before, but they were incredibly rare, expensive, and had some weird things going on. That's great in the beginning, as you saw, but can fall apart quickly as soon as there's competition to compare it to. The charging network thing was also a huge step, allowing people to charge at home slowly, or have a dedicated charger for fast charging installed, along with public ones available in larger cities and such. Keep in mind, Tesla was firmly the "struggling underdog" as far as a lot of people were concerned as well, so anything they did looked much better than it would coming from a major, established company.
It's like comparing the first MP3 players to what we have now. During the time, they were literally the best you could get without actually working in the industry, despite a couple problems. After other companies caught up, and technology improved, they look a lot less amazing. >


I think a major part was just that Tesla was the first real electric car that wasn't an abomination, and was available to "everyone".

They were also the first to make an electric car that just looked like, a car. They didnt do all that weird, pseudo-futuristic styling to make it stand out; which I think especially at the time is what pushed a lot of people away from the whole category. >


They were also the first to make an electric car that just looked like, a car.

Yeah, as I mentioned many of the older ones were abominations. No one wants to drive what looks like a 12 year olds "futuristic" design. Honestly, I think whoever managed to strap batteries and a working motor to a normal looking body would have been successful, provided the price was close to normal cars. >

I once saw a guy back out of a Walgreens parking spot in a Model S. The front bumper just kissed the curb stop and the whole front paneling came clean off. One gets the feeling Teslas are made out cardboard. >

They do feel very plastic and light, but i guess you need that a bit to compensate for the fact that it is electric and would have terrible mile range with much weight.
That tesla did drive off a cliff and survive the whole family so they are tough where safety is concerned.
But now its a muskmobile.  That cringe factor is hard to get around >


but i guess you need that a bit to compensate for the fact that it is electric and would have terrible mile range with much weight.

EVs are some of the heaviest cars on the road >

From the battery i assume. So everything else has to be as light as possible >

If you're goal is to save money Just get a Toyota. My Prius Prime was was only 22k when it was only a year old. Tesla have 2018 certified preowned (older than my car) going for over 60k. >

New Prius looks great. >

Right?  Be curious how much the new Prius prime lists for. Hopefully Toyota does gouge us too bad. >

Their margins are going to get destroyed. Plus, there’s a lot less demand. Everyone hates musk now. I was looking at a Tesla 8 months ago, now I wouldn’t be caught dead in one bc Musk is a fucking loser >

Most people evaluate a large purchase based on the product's merits, hence why sales remain gangbusters and will be doubly so now that prices are back to 2021 era normalcy. >

Orders have been dropping below production levels. >

That's a creative way of saying they've doubled their production capacity in the last few months.