Tesla To Skip Beta Phase And Go Directly To Production With Model 3

On one hand, making customers beta testers is a really bad idea, because the first impression of a product being problematic and buggy can leave a lasting, negative taste.

On the other hand, Tesla fans are fanatically forgiving and devoted, so they might not mind so much. Not too many Tesla owners griping about Autopilot 1.0 when it first came out.

Lastly, what choice does Tesla have? They keep running out of cash and having to go to capital markets to stay afloat (as analysts predicted). They keep missing their own self-imposed sales targets and deliverable dates. They have no choice but to make their best attempt at converting as many of those $1,000 deposits into $35,000 sales as possible, ASAP... and don't worry... that'll get fixed in the next software update... trust us.

Sure @TheSteve, we Tesla future owners are the impatient bunch. I would take the Model 3 over an A4, a 3-series or C-class any time - beta or not.

It is 100% a 3-series and A4 competitor and will beat both on performance, technology, and maintenance costs. The interior is spartan, but so was an iPhone compared to a Blackberry. I can live with fewer buttons and screens as long as the overall experience is as good or better.

I encourage Musk to put the Model 3 out without adequate testing. There's more than one way to destroy Tesla.

MDarringer: Do you feel Autopilot 1.0 was "adequately tested" before it was released to consumers? Do you believe it "destroyed Tesla"? I believe "no" in both cases.

@TheSteve I don't believe Tesla believes in ANY testing before launching any of their automotive turds onto the road.

MDarringer: I agree that Tesla products, in general, do not appear to be adequately tested before they're released to market.

It also appears that this has not harmed them in terms of sales. They sell all they make, and they have a lineup of Model 3 customers allegedly close to 400,000 deposits long.

@TheSteve

Tesla says they have 400K deposits, but that is not independently verified by an impartial source.

More than likely it is Elon running his mouth as he always does and the dimwits in public believe it.

But even if he has that number of orders, Tesla will not be able to crank them out expeditiously.

But even if they can crank them out expeditiously, they will not be able to sustain that amount of sales indefinitely and that would cause layoffs.

Are you worried about losing your job? You should be.

Actually - we really have no idea how Tesla "fans" will react to problems with their cars - remembering the "distance" between service centers. A BIG recall itself could scuttle Tesla - if they have to tow in every car to their service centers.

THe EV craze is actually waning - because of the cost of gasoline remaining low. Even in California - you only sell so many of those things. Sales of EVs and Hybrids have ebbed - and unless there is a real incentive to buy them (Unlikely under Trump) - people will not. I suspect that a large percentage - probably over 10% - will request their deposits back - because the cars will not sell for a premium for long - if at all.

And Henry - today you cannot take a model 3 over any other car - they still do not produce them - and unless you already have a deposit in - likely will not be producing enough for the general public for a couple of years. For those who put in a deposit to make money by reselling the cars - that is a loser's bet.

@TomM well stated

@TomM: I kind of know the Model 3 is not yet available at this time. I guess you missed the subtle use of "future" and "would".

As usual, the Autospies pundits skip a few details and jump to conclusion that the Model 3 will fail. Nowhere did Tesla say that they will sell the pre-production car as is. In fact they have built samples for testing, up to 300 according to some sources, and testing is already in progress. A lack of info does not mean they skip testing. The confidence that Tesla has in starting production in July should be seen as positive unless you wish for it to fail - which is not hard to believe based on some posts here.

@TomM wrote "Actually - we really have no idea how Tesla "fans" will react to problems with their cars" - change "Tesla" to "Mercedes", then will your reaction the same ?

Mercedes's recent recall of 1M 2015-2017 cars and SUVs due to fires. MB sold over 2M units in 2016. The 1M recall represents HUGE chunk of their sales, my estimate is 15%-20% for the 3 model years combined. To date, no repair has been done.

http://nypost.com/2017/03/03/mercedes-recalls-a-million-cars-due-to-fire-risk/

Do you even know what force majeure means? "unforeseeable circumstances that prevent someone from fulfilling a contract." Like a major earthquake, or Russian nuke hitting Fremont. He is saying only an act of God would prevent the car from making it one time.

I get it's a new car size and you can't full proof any car as every first generation car i've owned have had issues - N54 turbos in my BMWs, first PDK in my first 997.2, and just about everything electrical on my 2002 G500 to name a few.

Tesla is a little more unique as the actual drive train technology has been tested and vetted since the original first generation model S was delivered to the public. As long as they keep the Model 3 as a base product without any major untested features I don't see this being that big of an issue.

Similar to the Apple iPhone strategy, changing sizes has had "relatively" little major issues generation to generation. I get it, people freaked out about bend-gate or antenna gate but nothing was truly recall level, life safety (think Samsung level) issues.

This is the future of transportation. You can't tell me that driving around toxic liquid and storing it in under ground storage tanks to pump into a combustion engine that produces toxic gases doesn't feel a little archaic in 2017?

I have a 2013 Model S (super 1st gen), more reliable than any other car I've had. They are taking no risks with the 3, no crazy new tech that has never been done before. One top of that they have minimized the complexity of the car to almost an absurd degree. Only one screen, one giant air vent with no directional controls, no powered door handles, no dual-motor or performance variant, 1,000 fewer parts than the S.

Yet it will still have auto-everything like you would expect from a premium car (rain sensors, lights, high beams, unlock/lock) and full autopilot capabilities.