Amazon is not in the red NOW but they were for a long long time, because they play the long game, had grand ambitions beyond selling books, and choose to invest heavily in themselves instead of posting profits. Yet investors were ok with that because they believed in the plans too.
It’s only a bit similar, but paying for Prime requires paying ahead for a service you may use over the next year. I don’t see anything wrong with a refundable reservation. Tesla is hardly the first to do that.
So reports of some inestors losing patience, and pulling back, are these the dumb investors?
Neither do I, as long as the company delivers as promised. But I disagree with your “they can stay in the red forever as long as they are able to keep raising more funds” statement.
[citation needed]
This doesn’t sound like investors losing patience…
“Tesla Sells $546 Million of Bonds as Buyers Can’t Get Enough”
Fair enough, I was being facetious vs @mp11477’s comment they need money “soon”. No, they don’t. They just need to deliver before investor sentiment sours and so far they have. I think even the most hardcore Tesla fans will admit it could go either way at this point.
It depends on what news you listen to. I’ve seen reports like this, and I’ve seen reports investors are souring on Tesla’s overpromise/under deliver manufacturing thus far.
I wasn’t referring to “tomorrow” by saying “soon.” But they surely can’t last another 10 years burning money.
I agree it can’t last another 10 years.
Disagree that it depends on what news you listen to. It’s an objective fact they raised $546M last month therefore there are still investors willing to support them for now.
I received my Model 3 on Saturday it had been available for about a month but havent had the time to pick it up. Due to a family emergency I drove the Model 3 from the Fremont Pickup Center to the Central Valley and back to the Bay Area in the same day.
Here are my thoughts so far;
Bad:
When I showed up to pickup the car at the center it was an Apple Store type feel. They had a barista, snacks, etc. I waited a few minutes and someone met me to sign my purchase contract, collect my ID, and, proof of insurance. This processed seem repetitive to me since I had already uploaded this information, and digitally signed the purchase contract.
Backup keycard did not work while doing initial tutorial of the car. The advisor know I was in a rush to get out of town told me if the issue could not be fixed immediately I would have to a service center to have it taken care of. There was some confusion between advisors if my local service center could deal with the Model 3 issue. Fortunately the issue was fixed at the Fremont Center quickly and there was no need to visit the service center.
They drove the car to the front of the pickup center for me to leave. When I got in I tried to enter into the GPS my destination and it would not take it. After a few minutes of trying I had to go back inside and have someone look at it. They showed me how to do a hard reset of the screen system (similar to restarting a phone) once that was done the GPS worked fine.
Midway during my trip the bluetooth stopped working. People could hear me speak on the phone but I could not hear them, this was very frustrating. I eventually stopped in Los Banos and did another hard reset of the screen system and bluetooth was fine.
The evening after the pickup I noticed a small imperfection on the driver side back door handle. I emailed my sales advisor this morning and he has scheduled for a tech to take care of it.
Good:
The car acceleration, handling, and feel. I have had a few different BMW 328is the last few years. The handling of the Model 3 was just as good if not better, the handling and size of the car felt better to me than the Model S.
Touch screen, it is awesome, feels like an iPad that controls for your car. Everything felt very intuitive and was able to figure things out easily while driving. The mph being on the top left side of the screen did not seem that odd to me. I got used to checking it relatively quickly, driving at night with nothing in front of you felt weird almost like I was driving without my lights on.
The trunk space was better than my BMW and fit two huge suitcases as well as smaller items. I had a lot of stuff to pack in the car and I actually forgot about the front trunk at the time but more than enough storage.
Tesla app, every car should have this, I really do not see the point of having the key anymore since everything is push button start these days. Using it to limit charge level etc is great.
I am not sure how I feel about the seats, BMW has very different seats so I believe I got used to those. I specifically liked the adjustments I could make on the BMW seats, I may need to play around with the Model 3 seats some more. Overall I really like the car despite the few quirks that I had, I am by no means a fanboy so I will continue to be pretty critical of whatever else I find. Tesla service is really good and the assigned service advisor I have responds extremely promptly.
Congrats on the Model 3! Can’t say I’m not jealous. I waited in line later in the day on 3/31/16 so I anticipate it’ll be at least another month before I get to configure. Thanks for the honest and straightforward feedback on the car. I’ve been hearing about a lot of little issues similar to yours, but hopefully they’ll get those things worked out soon.
Out of curiosity, are you using an android or iphone? I’ve heard some reports that people were having issues unlocking their car with android phones and that makes me really nervous.
I have an iPhone, I have not seen any issues unlocking the car. I did speak to a Tesla technician after I wrote my post and did tell me they were having bluetooth issues on the Model 3.
Good to know. Hopefully they resolve the software issues sooner than later. There’s no question the software is still very much in beta stages which makes me a little concerned, but I’m just glad the car’s functionality can be updated over the air to resolve those issues.
I read that the keycard for the Model 3 only works on the driver’s door. Really? So if you’re out on date night with the spouse, they’ll have to open their own damn door themselves. ha!
RE: investors, they are already starting to get a little antsy. https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/02/26/is-teslas-worst-ever-loss-cause-for-concern.aspx
It’s funny how Tesla can post a $675 million dollar loss and stockholders go “Whew!”. What other company can lose that much money and it be considered good news by many investors? Lol
Their business model is definitely not sustainable. The fact they recorded losses on Model 3 sales to date DESPITE selling only the more expensive versions must be concerning.
Congrats As an early adopter, glitches are expected. They will fix gps, bluetooth, keycard etc etc … As long as you are ok with the shape factor and drivability (which cannot be fixed via software update)… Thanks for posting and no I am not a Tesla fanboy…
It’s the 21st century, bro/dude. Don’t offend anyone by opening a door for them.
Seriously, the car syncs with your phone, so the door can be opened from any side.
yea, really keycards shouldn’t be a concern at all. If you have the app on your phone and it’s working right, all you have to do is walk up to the car and the doors open. There have been some issues with android phones not working correctly, but I’m sure that’s going be one of their top priorities to fix.
Personally I don’t like the idea of utilizing the phone as the key. In theory at this moment, it sounds convenient. But it just introduces another failure point having to depend on the phone, with so many different types of phones out there. It uses bluetooth, right? I don’t know anything about the standards of bluetooth, but what if some phones use a crappier bluetooth module than others? What if in 10 years bluetooth isn’t even a thing? Then you’re resorted to the keycard, which is so archaic and more backwards than current keyfobs.
I think the phone-as-a-fob idea is great as I’m all about having one less thing to carry, but am still highly skeptical on the execution. It introduces so many variables not in Tesla’s control. I’ll be convinced only after I experience it myself.
It’s funny, there’s a lot of people concerned about using their phone as the key, but for me, this is one of the things I’m most excited about. I went completely keyless outside of my car key/keyfob. My house opens with my phone and it’s the greatest thing ever.
I get that there’s a potential for bluetooth/phones to fail and that’s the great thing about Tesla’s implementation where they give you a backup keycard that fits in your wallet. This isn’t meant to be a constant permanent solution, but it’s a last resort. I know when I drive anywhere, I have my phone, wallet and keys. This just reduces one of those things.
As far as bluetooth technology goes, I don’t anticipate it’ll go away any time soon. The technology keeps getting better every year and all new implementations of it are actually backwards compatible. Sure in 20 years something better could come along and completely remove the need for bluetooth, but I’m sure if that ever happens Tesla could create an alternative technology that can swap out.
The thing I keep telling people is, if they really want a “keyfob” for whatever reason. Just buy a really tiny android phone like this one… https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jellyphone/jelly-the-smallest-4g-smartphone
For less than a cost of most modern keyfobs, you can control your car and use it for other things if you need to.
Call me old school, but I’d rather have a fob. As these cars become more popular, so too will the hacks/malware targeted at them
So you’re saying that keyfobs will be more secure?
hmmm… there goes that theory. I’m a computer security guy, and I’m very aware of the vulnerabilities present in bluetooth, but to say we’re not going to utilize technology because it can be hacked/attacked/cracked/picked/etc is totally absurd.
Using the same logic, you can say that cars and houses shouldn’t have physical keys because picking a lock is one of the easiest things to do. To each their own, but false sense of security doesn’t mean it’s better.
There’s some thoughts out there that Tesla could potentially implement two factor authentication when entering their cars. They could have their phone and then with the side or driver facing cameras, it could use facial recognition to authenticate. I think Tesla has plenty of work to do on their software first, but I could definitely see that as a possibility.