Thatās obviously a huge concern for Tesla. Musk has been consistently playing down the features on the Model 3 because many people are expecting that you get very little benefit in spending twice the price (or more) on a Model S. That really shouldnāt surprise anyone. Itās like saying the 7-series BMW loses customers because the 3-series exists. Both are great cars, the 7-series is higher end and larger so why would anyone buy it? Well, because itās higher end and larger. 
The bigger issue is that the Model S is just an old design now. The carās been around over 5 years with pretty much no design changes. At some point Tesla needs to update design and really give it some updated features that differentiate it from the Model 3.
Is the timing of other builds and colors not being available till after December something you have seen documented? Or is this a what if?
More importantly it will also drive down the price of used model S, as invariably, people appreciate that the drivetrain tech in Model 3 is more current than the 5 year old S
At the announcement last Friday Musk confirmed that only the long range version ($44k) wonāt be available until the end of the year. I read some articles that mentioned that the only available version will be long range + premium options ($49k before color upgrade, rims upgrade, and autopilot upgrades).
You can see by my delivery estimator that day one reservation holders wonāt even have an option to get the $35K version until at least February.
Well, to anyone thinking the reservation #s would significantly decrease after the announcement last fridayā¦ looks like the opposite happenedā¦
$49k to 35k is a pretty wide range, and factoring in the 7.5k credit that could also disappear, no wonder a lot of people (well relatively) cancelled. For somebody who was hoping to get a car at 35k minus 7.5k credit, 49k with only 3.8k credit is a big change,
It is also no surprise that after the motor trend review, lots of people also got interested (I know I did). For now, the biggest number game is not how many reservations but how much production. These numbers will balance out eventually [i.e. Musk will keep making 49k models as long as there is high demand)
In the meantime, this could be an opportunity for other EV makers (such as Nissan or GM) to release their EV before Model 3 production ramps up enough for it to become an inventory item.
Imagine if Tesla actively tried to sell the Model 3! 
I donāt think thereās ever been anything like this in the car industry.
Tesla is continuing to see demand for its first mass market car, the Model 3, with an average of 1,800 new orders a day.
āWith a small amount of effort we can easily drive the Model 3 reservation number to something much higher but thereās no point. Itās like if youāre a restaurant and youāre serving hamburgers and thereās like an hour and a half wait for hamburgers do you really want to encourage more people to order more hamburgers?ā
With hamburgers, people can eat a different hamburger on the day when there is 1.5 hour wait and then come back the next day to try their luck.
With cars, once a customer buys or leases a different car, they are usually off the market for at least 30 to 36 months Anyway good luck to Musk in production hell. Hopefully there wonāt be first production run customer hell
I think itās awesome that Tesla employees are getting the cars first. Hopefully theyāll report all the bugs in manufacturing before they get released to the masses. I feel confident that things will be worked out by the time I get mine.
No matter what you think of Tesla this is pretty remarkable. You have hundreds of thousands of people worldwide who:
- Paid $1,000 just to have the chance to spend more money
- Did so without any promise about when they might get to spend the money
- Did so without having seen a finished car
- Did so without having driven the car
- Did so without a firm price for the car
- Did so without knowing what options would be on the car (other than a Tesla badge)
Now things sort of like this have happened before but not in modern times. I thinking of programs like the pre-war German VW purchase plan. But then people had no other real car options, nothing like todayās marketplace.
I donāt think we will really know how the Model 3 is as a car until we get some serious long term tests, something that isnāt likely to happen anytime soon. There is a reason they gave Motortrend a short spin as they are big Tesla boosters. Note they didnāt hand it over to Consumer Reports. Iād love to see what Car and Driver has to say. And I can think of some Youtube folks Iād like to see review it (Alex on Autos and Savagegeese for starters).
Me personally Iām pretty set for cars for the next 3 years but I wish Tesla all the best and I hope they inspire some great competition. When it is time for my next ride Iād love to be able to get a long range EV or plug-in but it has to be bigger than most of what is out there but not priced like a Model S or X. How about someone do me an EV wagon?
Good points. I was one of those crazy 150,000 people that plopped down $1k for a car theyād never seen based on rumors alone and a car name. Never thought Iād be one of those people, but obviously Iām very excited about the idea of a long range electric car with the look and features of a Tesla. Also, Iām excited about the future hope/promise of autonomous driving cars. I know some people love to drive and the thought of this pisses them off like crazy, but personally, I donāt care for driving. If I never had to touch a steering wheel ever again, Iād be perfectly fine with that. Iām generally pretty frugal (which is obvious by the fact that Iām on this forum) but with this car Iām willing to splurge for the car Iāve been thinking/dreaming about for years.
Iām the same, I was one of the line waiters on 3/31. I was turned on to Tesla when a friend let me drive his model S and model X, both really nice cars but I can never justify that kind of expanse. The model 3 will be a good medium, but Iām still worried about the reliability (bugs in the system), since this is the first production batch. Hopefully like someone said, the employees that got the model 3 can correct most major issues before consumer production.
Nice! Glad to see others on here impatiently waiting. 
I actually have yet to test drive a Model S or X. I was planning to schedule one last week, but life got busy. I know itāll be a bit depressing that I canāt afford those, but hopefully the Model 3 will be a good option. Out of curiosity, what does your delivery estimate show? What time did you put in your deposit?
I read about that the other day. Itās a little creepy, but I can see a lot of reasons for it. The main reasons Iāve heard are for Level 3 autonomous driving (pays attention to driverās attentiveness and reacts appropriately). The other thing Iāve heard, which also makes a lot of sense is that when Level 5 autonomy gets released, Tesla will likely have their own āuberā-like service. Someone requests a Tesla and your car automatically goes to the person and picks them up. The door locks can be controlled through phones and then thereās a camera to monitor people in your car. I think this more like a 10-year stretch goal, but I could definitely see this happening in the not so distant future. Depending on what itās used for, I may decide to use the super high tech method of a sticker over the camera to thwart the evil corporationās sinister intentions. 
You should most definitely try the model S since it will be more comparable to the model 3.
Iām a line waiter on 3/31, made it through the doors at 11ish am. My first production is set to NOV 2017 - JAN 2018, standard battery set to JAN - MAR 2018, and dual motor set at JUL - SEP 2018
Iāve selected the first production, but we will see if the wife vetoes itā¦
And Musk will void your warranty 
I wonder how much of the Model 3 boom is driven by the autonomous driving stuff. If it is a significant component I fear that a lot of folks will be disappointed. Right now it is not too much more advanced than the auto breaking and lane keeping some of the other manufacturers have deployed. When the average, non-car person hears about it they are picturing the ānever touch the steering wheelā scenario. If it turns out a lot of people thought they were getting that for $35K we will see a lot fewer reservations turn into sales.