Tesla Cuts Model 3 Price Again

15 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Great! Now start building the $35k base model you promised.

Yeah... my friend wasn't thrilled about that, but nonetheless, he shelled out the money, like Tesla banked on.

At least the prices are lower than what the Chinese are having to pay. Those prices are crazy.

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/tesla-model-3-launch-china-high-price-tag/ 

At forty two grand...these will be fantastic used car buys when i replace the Beetle in a year or two. I may have actually purchased my last ICE automobile. Kind of wild.

2 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

At forty two grand...these will be fantastic used car buys when i replace the Beetle in a year or two. I may have actually purchased my last ICE automobile. Kind of wild.

I've heard the Tesla used car buying experience can be horrific...hopefully that will improve in the future.

1 minute ago, Robert Hall said:

I've heard the Tesla used car buying experience can be horrific...hopefully that will improve in the future.

Interesting...had not heard that.

32 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Interesting...had not heard that.

I am sure there will be other options too as in a few years we will see the iPace and MQC EVs show up on the CPO scene plus there is always the Bolt which is in CPO now.

42 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

I've heard the Tesla used car buying experience can be horrific...hopefully that will improve in the future.

What have you heard?

5 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

What have you heard?

This was mostly from the Rich Rebuilds podcast about his experience buying a used Model X, but IIRC things like waiting months for the car to be delivered locally (w/ Tesla providing dates that kept changing), lack of photographs of the car, poor communication over the phone w/ untrained people, cars stored at a 3rd party auction lot, etc.  Seems like core issues are that Tesla doesn't have used car lots or used car sales processes like normal dealers.. from comments it sounds like it's not an isolated event. 

Just now, Robert Hall said:

This was mostly from the Rich Rebuilds podcast about his experience buying a used Model X, but IIRC things like waiting months for the car to be delivered locally (w/ Tesla providing dates that kept changing), lack of photographs of the car, poor communication over the phone w/ untrained people, cars stored at a 3rd party auction lot, etc.  Seems like core issues are that Tesla doesn't have used car lots or used car sales processes like normal dealers..

That sounds like it is specific to Tesla sales though.  No reason you couldn't also buy a Tesla from a local Buick-GMC-Cadillac dealer. 

4 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

That sounds like it is specific to Tesla sales though.  No reason you couldn't also buy a Tesla from a local Buick-GMC-Cadillac dealer. 

Good question..I wonder if there are used Teslas at non-Tesla dealers...I suppose that could happen. 

1 minute ago, Robert Hall said:

Good question..I wonder if there are used Teslas at non-Tesla dealers...I suppose that could happen. 

Of course there are!

22 minutes ago, dfelt said:

I am sure there will be other options too as in a few years we will see the iPace and MQC EVs show up on the CPO scene plus there is always the Bolt which is in CPO now.

I have seen a bunch of EV vehicles on the road here in Columbus....yesterday i saw an I8, a couple dozen Teslas, several bolts, Several Leafs...

1 minute ago, Robert Hall said:

Good question..I wonder if there are used Teslas at non-Tesla dealers...I suppose that could happen. 

Lots of fairly new Tesla's around the area here on auto lots.

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/searchresults.xhtml?zip=98034&makeCodeList=TESLA&modelCodeList=EXPEDI

This 2018 Tesla 3 with only 4,390 miles on it is sitting on the local RAM, Dodge, Jeep, Chrysler lot here.

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=506380991&zip=98034&referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fsearchresults.xhtml%3Fzip%3D98034%26startYear%3D1981%26sortBy%3Drelevance%26incremental%3Dall%26firstRecord%3D0%26marketExtension%3Don%26endYear%3D2019%26makeCodeList%3DTESLA%26searchRadius%3D200&startYear=1981&numRecords=25&firstRecord=0&endYear=2019&makeCodeList=TESLA&searchRadius=200&clickType=spotlight

Tesla S sitting on the local Audi Lot here with only 16,183 miles is a 2017 Tesla S

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=490612925&zip=98034&referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fsearchresults.xhtml%3Fzip%3D98034%26startYear%3D1981%26sortBy%3Drelevance%26incremental%3Dall%26firstRecord%3D0%26marketExtension%3Don%26endYear%3D2019%26makeCodeList%3DTESLA%26searchRadius%3D200&startYear=1981&numRecords=25&firstRecord=0&endYear=2019&makeCodeList=TESLA&searchRadius=200&makeCode1=TESLA&modelCode1=TESMODS&clickType=listing 

5 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Lots of fairly new Tesla's around the area here on auto lots.

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/searchresults.xhtml?zip=98034&makeCodeList=TESLA&modelCodeList=EXPEDI

This 2018 Tesla 3 with only 4,390 miles on it is sitting on the local RAM, Dodge, Jeep, Chrysler lot here.

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=506380991&zip=98034&referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fsearchresults.xhtml%3Fzip%3D98034%26startYear%3D1981%26sortBy%3Drelevance%26incremental%3Dall%26firstRecord%3D0%26marketExtension%3Don%26endYear%3D2019%26makeCodeList%3DTESLA%26searchRadius%3D200&startYear=1981&numRecords=25&firstRecord=0&endYear=2019&makeCodeList=TESLA&searchRadius=200&clickType=spotlight

Tesla S sitting on the local Audi Lot here with only 16,183 miles is a 2017 Tesla S

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=490612925&zip=98034&referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fsearchresults.xhtml%3Fzip%3D98034%26startYear%3D1981%26sortBy%3Drelevance%26incremental%3Dall%26firstRecord%3D0%26marketExtension%3Don%26endYear%3D2019%26makeCodeList%3DTESLA%26searchRadius%3D200&startYear=1981&numRecords=25&firstRecord=0&endYear=2019&makeCodeList=TESLA&searchRadius=200&makeCode1=TESLA&modelCode1=TESMODS&clickType=listing 

I wonder if these are getting traded back in for ICE autos or what....

1 minute ago, A Horse With No Name said:

I wonder if these are getting traded back in for ICE autos or what....

Yes, it seems so weird to imagine Teslas on a regular used car lot.    I guess I haven't been to a used car lot in a long time.     I thought with EVs it was 'once you go electric, you never go back' but who knows....

20 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

I wonder if these are getting traded back in for ICE autos or what....

Around here with all the steep hills and mountains and snow, AWD is becoming a standard requirement for many here in the Tech industry. I suspect it was traded in for an AWD or 4x4 ICE auto.

1 minute ago, dfelt said:

Around here with all the steep hills and mountains and snow, AWD is becoming a standard requirement for many here in the Tech industry. I suspect it was traded in for an AWD or 4x4 ICE auto.

That makes sense. I know if I lived out there I'd be driving my JGC.   

2 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

That makes sense. I know if I lived out there I'd be driving my JGC.   

Current storm this week.

14 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Around here with all the steep hills and mountains and snow, AWD is becoming a standard requirement for many here in the Tech industry. I suspect it was traded in for an AWD or 4x4 ICE auto.

Most Teslas are AWD these days.

7 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Most Teslas are AWD these days.

True, but the ones on the dealer lots around here like the two I posted above are RWD only. Very weird.

1 minute ago, dfelt said:

True, but the ones on the dealer lots around here like the two I posted above are RWD only. Very weird.

Some could be tech industry resource units that relocated from the SF Bay Area or Austin or other non-snowy climate locales..  I used to see that in Denver.  Coworkers that moved from So Cal or Austin that had 2wd SUVs...

2 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Great! Now start building the $35k base model you promised.

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE!

Model 3 starting cost now ~$35k (after ~$8k of credits & fuel savings) https://t.co/46TXqRrsdr

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 6, 2019

It is nice that the price has dropped, these were selling like crazy before the price cut, so I expect they will continue to sell fast.  I think this shows too that EV costs will drop over time.

There was a HUGE pull-ahead in December Model 3 sales, undoubtedly due to the lowering of the tax credit. Tesla moved 25, 250 model 3s in Dec, but a mere 6500 in January. That's a 75% decline.

2 hours ago, balthazar said:

There was a HUGE pull-ahead in December Model 3 sales, undoubtedly due to the lowering of the tax credit. Tesla moved 25, 250 model 3s in Dec, but a mere 6500 in January. That's a 75% decline.

Ouch....

http://www.thedrive.com/news/26383/cold-weather-can-cut-an-electric-cars-range-more-than-40-percent-report

On 2/8/2019 at 7:28 PM, regfootball said:

http://www.thedrive.com/news/26383/cold-weather-can-cut-an-electric-cars-range-more-than-40-percent-report

Brings up a yuge question regarding EV lovers' sanity, right?

1 hour ago, ocnblu said:

Brings up a yuge question regarding EV lovers' sanity, right?

310 miles for a Model 3.

You start your day at 310, because you plugged it in the night before.

310 miles minus the 40% drop gives you?

Hell, Ill go with 220 miles starting your day because you left work at 5:00. Called your wife saying that your boss needs you to stay because you need to file files that havent been filed for 5 years. Went to happy hour instead, saw a buxom blonde. You bought her a wine spritzer. From a wine spritzer it became a Long Island Iced Tea. From there it became mutual belly shots and then...well, you went home at 3:00 in the morning and your wife was none the wiser. You plugged it your Model 3,  but 7:00 AM came fast (and so did you coincidentally) and your Model 3 only has got 220 mile range. We will reduce that range by not the 40% they say, but by a whopping 50%. So now you got 110 miles top go to your work that is 40 miles , 50....hell 60 miles away. You go to work every phoquing day 60 miles away from where you live. 60 motherphoquing miles.   SHYTE!  60 goddamned miles.  You got enough to get there, but how do you get back home?

You could ask that buxom blonde from the night before to pick you up and drive you back home. You could entice her by asking her for a quickie in the backseat of her soccer mom SUV that is gasoline powered...

Anyway...back to the 60 mile problem...because now you only have a 50 mile range and you got to travel 60 miles...

1. Maybe your employer has installed charger stations?

2. What the phoque are you complaining about the 40-50% ?  You are travelling 60 miles to work everyday.

I think you got a bigger problem than 40% range loss because of cold weather in your EV,  find yourself travelling and losing time doing it every phoquing day...

If that scenario was real...120 miles to go to work every day will bankrupt you in gasoline if you had a joe schmo job and you drove even a V6 automobile let alone a V8. Also, the wear and tear on that V6.  4 cylinder you say? WEAR AND TEAR I SAY.

So...as you see, even in extreme scenarios, 40% is a lot of range loss. But man!!!

YOU ALWAYS START THE PHOQUING DAY WITH A "FULL TANK OF GAS" SINCE YOU COULD AND MOSTLY LIKELY YOU DO PLUG IN YOUR CAR EVERYDAY AFTER COMING HOME...

ON A 1st GENERATION LEAF THAT HAD 30 MILE RANGE, YOU MAY HAVE A BIIIIIG PROBLEM, YES! 

BUT ON ANY TESLA, CHEVROLET BOLT, EVEN THIS GENERATION NISSAN LEAF, AN AVERAGE COMMUTE FOR THE AVERAGE AMERICAN TO GO TO AND FROM WORK IS ABOUT 16 MILES. THERE ARE SOME THAT TRAVEL 50 MILES,YES, BUT A 40% RANGE LOSS IS MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. EV HATERZ FIND THE JOY, BUT EV OWNERS JUST ADAPT AND THEY MAKE SURE THEY PLUG IN AND IN THE MORNING, A FULL TANK OF GAS AWAITS THEM...

BATTERIES ARE GETTING BETTER. BETTER INSULATED TOO...SO THIS WILL EVENTUALLY BECOME A MOOT POINT TOO!!!

https://itstillruns.com/far-americans-drive-work-average-7446397.html

Quote

 

If you drive long distances to your job each day, you are not alone. According to ABC News, the average American drives 16 miles to work each way, with a daily commute totaling nearly an hour round trip.

Significance

 

While the average commute involves 30 minutes in the car each way, many people commute less than a mile to work each day. On the other hand, this number is tempered by "extreme commuters" who must drive more than 100 miles each way to work during the week.

 

Identification

 

According to ABC News, 220 million Americans average an hour and a half each day in their cars. About 3.3 million people travel at least 50 miles to work one way, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

 

 

 

 

But even with my very extreme examples, those 3.3 million Americans could STILL get home with juice to spare...

POINT PROVEN! 

29 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

POINT PROVEN! 

Point proven on my side.

Adapting is a very human trait. Humans ALWAYS adapt to their environment.  THAT is why humans have become the apex creature it has become. 

Hell, humans have this crazy idea of colonizing Mars and beyond. EVs with a 40% range loss because of cold is a mere nuisance in the grand scheme of things.  

Bratt Pitt said it best. (For 40% range loss at the shortest level and if you like...for the grand scheme of things...Mars colonization, moving from England to the new world, and then leaving the East to go West and getting killed by the savages and tornados we may encounter, changing from ICE to EVs,  going from Coke to diet Coke to Coke Zero back to Coke)

You know, my partner owns a Model S. In the 4 years he has owned it, he NEVER once complained about range loss...he has mentioned it to me, but never complained about it. And, it was NEVER an issue with him either. Keep in mind that I DO live in Montreal and not in warm Los Angeles where this may or may not be a thing...

This whole thing about cold weather range loss that just popped up everywhere the last month is probably hate propaganda from anybody that has an invested interest in oil and gasoline...

I repeat. The low end Model 3 has a range of 220 miles.  The story was just entertainment value.  50% of 220 is 110. Same as my story line. Yes it had a purpose. Yes I did the 220 thing on purpose to prove a point. 

110 mile range. Each and every day when someone starts their day. In the morning. At an extreme level of trying to prove a point. 

If your employer has a charge system set-up for their employees to charge up...moot point. that would be another 110 mile range. One could stop and shop and joy ride. Even if the commute to work IS 60 miles. Like 3.3 million Americans do everyday. 

The average commute is 16 miles.   Common man!   Theoretically, one could charge his 220 mile range, after losses 110 mile range EV after the 2nd day with out any panic... Even if the battery loss is compounded... 110 becomes 60, which becomes 30.  

This is getting a little tiring, talking about non-existent range anxiety. This is not an issue anymore. 

Move on from it! 

Whoa whoa WHOA there, skeeterbite!  Settle down a bit!  Nobody wants an uncertain future.  Stick with ICE and you'll be juuuuuust fine.

2 hours ago, ocnblu said:

Whoa whoa WHOA there, skeeterbite!  Settle down a bit!  Nobody wants an uncertain future.  Stick with ICE and you'll be juuuuuust fine.

Ill take this far.

Uncertain future?

Its safe to say that you are not a Native American. Even if you were, your ancestors did have to travel to get to North America anyway. 

But, I think that your ancestors came from Merry Ole England.  They had to travel the Atlantic Ocean back when they thought the world was flat. It was proven otherwise by some chap named Christopher Columbo. 

Be as it may, there must have been some folk that doubted that and disputed that fact vehemently.  Yet, for whatever reason, your ancestors decided to leave Merry Ole England, Or Ireland, or Scotland, because their future on that God forsaken island was...uncertain...to come to a new place to start fresh and take a chance on a perhaps better uncertain future. 

In America, like I said, their future was also uncertain. If I know my American History (which New France history coincides with American History...and I do live in Quebec and we actually do learn about American History do to the fact that the French fought Les Anglais...) and between the French and their Native American Indigenous peoples alliance versus YOUR British roots and their Native American Indigenous peoples alliances...well, all of our futures were uncertain.  

Famine, wars, cold winters...

And if all that is still not enough, when the 13 colonies were established and New France was kept at bay, at the Natives tamed, that STILL was not enough, your ancestors decided to complicate their future slightly more and create more uncertainty by deciding to declare independence from Merry Ole England.

And STILL that wasnt enough as some of your countrymen decided to trot further west into the wild where the Natives seemed to be more savage and the weather even more savage-ier.  Uncertain future you say?  To put it mildly...YES!!!

And then as a young nation, you went all out on a new technology called the railway train...

You know Blu, its fun talking to you...but if you havent noticed...if YOUR ancestors were truly afraid of an uncertain future, like you seem to be, then your ancestors would have never left that rainy, foggy island. 

If your ancestors were truly afraid to embrace new technologies, they would have never learned about what MY ancestors brought to the table...

and perfect it and utilize it to colonize half the planet with it and rule the world with it later on, and then start a new nation with it and then police the whole world with it...

all with uncertain futures attached  it...to the history of...well human kind really... 

Here is another angle...

Man always dreamed about flying...and ALWAYS failed trying.

A couple of thousand of years later after this story was told...

And the flight of that bird...well, it was shorter than the length of a Boeing 747.

Even though flight failed a million times before 1903 and thousands of times after 1903...

Because after that disaster, the future of flight was...uncertain...

We still kept at it...and if we stopped and just held unto the same ole same ole safety zones...well...

That would have never have happened...

Phoque man...let it go, bro!!!

wrong

Took my Family out for lunch and our daughters best friend and her husband who is a police officer and drives a 4x4 F350 Dually came to lunch. He is a hard core Diesel driver, but has had the options of being able to drive their single Tesla X police CUV around the rich city he works for and has come to the decision that for most people EVs make sense especially with a full tank every day at the start and so little maintenance compared to ICE auto's.

He then said for himself, until they have a decent 4x4 as he lives out in the woods and drives 50 miles every day, 100 round trip he would not give up his truck.

I then showed him the Atlis Pickup with 5.5, 6.5 or 8 foot bed option.

He read the web page from the company and said when it gets into production, he would consider it as the 400 mile battery pack even with reduced range in the cold would work for him.

This was a die hard Diesel fan who would be willing to consider it. He has to drive 18 miles to get to the closest gas station, so being able to plug in at his house every night would be no big deal to have a full tank of go juice in the morning.

4 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Took my Family out for lunch and our daughters best friend and her husband who is a police officer and drives a 4x4 F350 Dually came to lunch. He is a hard core Diesel driver, but has had the options of being able to drive their single Tesla X police CUV around the rich city he works for and has come to the decision that for most people EVs make sense especially with a full tank every day at the start and so little maintenance compared to ICE auto's.

He then said for himself, until they have a decent 4x4 as he lives out in the woods and drives 50 miles every day, 100 round trip he would not give up his truck.

I then showed him the Atlis Pickup with 5.5, 6.5 or 8 foot bed option.

He read the web page from the company and said when it gets into production, he would consider it as the 400 mile battery pack even with reduced range in the cold would work for him.

This was a die hard Diesel fan who would be willing to consider it. He has to drive 18 miles to get to the closest gas station, so being able to plug in at his house every night would be no big deal to have a full tank of go juice in the morning.

Every day when I walk between buildings and cross streets at the university I work at I see eV's passing me on the road.  I do not consider either you or your debate  opponent, the esteem-able Mr "Blu reliable witnesses on electric cars. You say everything electric very short term, he says never...I see it as a long term thing.

It's absolutely a very long term thing. Rivian starts at $70K (website says "$61,500 after federal tax credit" but that's highly disingenuous)- that's a huge pill to swallow. Everybody can consider everything, but guess what one of the 3 legs of the Consideration Stool is? Cost.
A Lambo Hurricane would work for me as a local errand / estimate vehicle, but guess what.

37 minutes ago, balthazar said:

It's absolutely a very long term thing. Rivian starts at $70K (website says "$61,500 after federal tax credit" but that's highly disingenuous)- that's a huge pill to swallow. Everybody can consider everything, but guess what one of the 3 legs of the Consideration Stool is? Cost.
A Lambo Hurricane would work for me as a local errand / estimate vehicle, but guess what.

Personally I see you as more of a 50's rust and patina kind of a guy but you could rock the Lambo look....

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

It's absolutely a very long term thing. Rivian starts at $70K (website says "$61,500 after federal tax credit" but that's highly disingenuous)- that's a huge pill to swallow. Everybody can consider everything, but guess what one of the 3 legs of the Consideration Stool is? Cost.
A Lambo Hurricane would work for me as a local errand / estimate vehicle, but guess what.

I agree with you, yet the point I am making is a die hard diesel fan can see the value of of a truck that meets his needs in switching to an EV. Considering he just replaced his 10yr old 1ton Ram pickup with the CPO Ford F350. I do not expect him to change until 10 years from now and who knows where we will be now that Ford and GM have committed to having a 1/2 ton EV pickup. In 10 years we could also have 3/4 and 1 ton EV pickups.

The thing is that the future has allot of exciting change so as we all enjoy our ICE auto's now, there will be alternative considerations down the road that just might entice you to change power train types.

If it's competitive, price-wise.

5 hours ago, dfelt said:

GM have committed to having a 1/2 ton EV pickup. In 10 years we could also have 3/4 and 1 ton EV pickups.

Link please, on GM being "committed" to having a 1/2 ton EV pickup.

33 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

Link please, on GM being "committed" to having a 1/2 ton EV pickup.

This article from last November says no plans..

https://electrek.co/2018/11/12/electric-pickup-truck-gm/

But this one implies they may build something to compete w/ the Tesla pickup

https://electrek.co/2019/01/18/gm-electric-tesla-pickup-truck/

Lead, follow, or get out of the way, right? 

26 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Lead, follow, or get out of the way, right?

They lead.  They make the best trucks.  Why waste money on a money-losing proposition?  Don't make no sense.

The Tesla haters that can only crap on them for range are just afraid or jealous that Tesla makes a better car than many of the gas options.  Every car has some sort of compromise, I don't hear people saying the Corvette or 911 sucks due to not enough trunk space or back seat room.  Or F150 owners complaining that it gets 17 mpg, or people bashing the Prius because it is slow.  All these vehicles have a flaw.

The Model 3 has range limitation yes, it has a plain interior, but it also has positive attributes too, like technology and performance.  You have to compare what you get in a Model 3 vs an ATS, Q60, C-class or other similar priced car.

There are myriad reasons to "crap" on Tesla.  Poor quality is a real good one, for example.

13 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

There are myriad reasons to "crap" on Tesla.  Poor quality is a real good one, for example.

*yawn*

4 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

There are myriad reasons to "crap" on Tesla.  Poor quality is a real good one, for example.

If Poor Quality was the only reason, then why are the Germans having to change their plans for their EVs after reverse engineering the Tesla 3.

https://insideevs.com/porsche-audi-tesla-model-3-teardown/

The story above is only one of a couple where all the German brands have bought a Tesla 3 and while the interiors and fit n finish leave something to be desired, their power train and tech surpasses what the Germans can do or have planned to do.

More Great Reading as to why the Germans are scared.

https://www.wiwo.de/technologie/mobilitaet/elektroauto-zerlegt-tesla-model-3-kann-gewinn-abwerfen/22625806.html

https://www.quattrodaily.com/audi-and-porsche-worried-for-ppe-platform-after-tear-down-of-tesla-model-3/

https://cleantechnica.com/2018/09/25/tesla-an-uncomfortable-wake-up-call-for-germany-all-hands-on-deck/

Tesla has an ecosystem approach. That’s something all the others lagged behind.

Honestly, if Tesla can just get to their damn $40,000 car...not even $35,000 they’ll have made it.

I think they can reasonably get to 500k cars by 2021. Holy smokes.... were I to say this, maybe 2 years ago....pls I would have loved to be lynched by a mob, even I would have believed I deserved it by saying that!

I watched the Autoline After Hours when Sandy Munro was a guest and he went over the tear down of the Model 3.  Yes the build quality as far as panel gaps and things is not up to par for what it should be, but he said the electronics in the Tesla are light years ahead of what any other car has.  He said how no other automaker is even close on the electronics/software/hardware/batteries, so that has to count for something.

Just now, smk4565 said:

I watched the Autoline After Hours when Sandy Munro was a guest and he went over the tear down of the Model 3.  Yes the build quality as far as panel gaps and things is not up to par for what it should be, but he said the electronics in the Tesla are light years ahead of what any other car has.  He said how no other automaker is even close on the electronics/software/hardware/batteries, so that has to count for something.

I saw that episode too.

That is why I downvoted Blu...

When folk have predisposed ideas in their heads and spew #fakenews...