Tesla Model 3 Will Look Similar To Model S, + Other Tidbits (Rumor)
Originally published on EV Obsession.
A recent post on the Tesla Motors Club forum concerning the Model 3 — detailing a conversation with a purported Tesla insider — has revealed what many of us have already been expecting. That the Tesla Model 3 will look very similar to the Model S sedan, just smaller.
Here’s the full comment in question, courtesy of “MrJones390“:
And he said the following:
-Model 3 looks very similar to Model S, just smaller and without luxury features like leather seats
-Cost saving is due to Gigafactory, smaller battery and economy features
-Possible release of smaller, stripped down Model X at same time (not sure if name is Model Y)
We’ll see if this is true next month!
This isn’t really surprising (if true). Why take a gamble when you know that by going with the basic Model S look you’re going to please most potential buyers? That said, this does seem to fly in the face of what CEO Elon Musk said previously about the Model 3 “not looking like anything else on the road.” (That may not be the exact quote, I don’t have it here in front of me. But it’s the general gist.)
As far as the possible release of a crossover at the same time, I remain highly skeptical of that. And Musk has seemingly shot that possibility down in the recent past as well, so it seems unlikely. Perhaps the comment about a stripped down Model X was in reference to something else?
The official unveiling of the Model 3 is now less than a month away, though, so I suppose that we’ll know if any of this is true soon enough.
→ Related: Tesla CTO: Model 3 To Feature “Next Generation” Technology
Image by Zachary Shahan | EV Obsession | CleanTechnica (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Hope so, as far as segment and styling goes it should be the Audi A4/BMW 3-series/Merc C-class to the A8/7-series/S-Class.
The funny looking, nothing like this on the road, car should be saved for the real people’s car, which will be the Tesla after the model 3. Five hundred thousand cars a year isn’t enough for the mass market car.
Anything “funny looking”, or “nothing like this on the road” from a styling standpoint will not sell well. The more vanilla the design the higher the volume. Why do camry’s and corollas sell so well historically? They have “boring” designs that just work without being polarizing. The Model S is attractive but didn’t try to be too wild from an exterior design standpoint and that is one of the keys to its success.
I agree but an increasing factor as it goes down market will be more regular and female buyers. On average they’ve a higher tolerance for more unusual and practical designs.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/women-are-more-likely-to-drive-these-cars-2016-03-02
Aerodynamics basically requires all modern sedans to have very similar profiles. Even the Model X looks more like an oversized sedan. The problem is it’s getting difficult to tell different models apart as a current Chevy Malibu commercial tries to use as a selling point.
Perhaps this explains why Toyota and Honda are trying something different – terribly different.
One would think so. And yet a Prius and a Model S look so different…
http://www.toyota.com/content/vehicle-landing/2016/prius/colorizer/070.jpg?interpolation=lanczos-none&output-quality=90&downsize=810px:*
http://image.motortrend.com/f/oftheyear/car/1301_2013_motor_trend_car_of_the_year_tesla_model_s/41007707/2013-Tesla-Model-S-right-side.jpg
They look awfully similar to me. But I guess some people fixate on different details.
True. The longer rear end, and bigger tires make a visual difference. Also, the Prius is 58.1 inch tall vs the model S 56.5. If the Model S were shrunk, it would be much less tall than the Prius.
The Chevy Volt has a very similar profile as the Prius, but the Volt does it so much better.
This sound like someone made up a safe lie
I am seriously considering lining up like a true zealot, which I believed I would never do for any product, just to ensure I get my reservation for a Model 3 in with some reasonably low number “in line”. I fully anticipate Model 3 reservations to at least match if not far exceed Model X reservations within mere days of being available…
I wouldn’t hold it against you. In fact, I would be willing to bet that a full 30% of our readers are considering it and that a full 10% actually will.
My thought is I will have a full 2 years (or more sadly) before the actual release of the vehicle to change my mind. My biggest fear is that if I don’t put a deposit down quickly and the car turns out as great as I expect I will seriously regret then having to wait possibly an additional year or two while they fulfill initial demand…
The real problem is that the federal tax credit for Tesla will be gone soon after the 3’s start shipping. So it will be a long wait and it will cost up to $7,500 more.
Exactly. That’s why I’m seriously considering camping out. (Or at least arriving at 5/6 am. On a Thursday morning. There’s no way there’ll be much of a line… right? Right?
(Ok, so maybe camping out is a better strategy…)
I would expect the tax credit to expire before the 3 comes out. Telsa is over 100,000 cars today, expects to make another 90 this year and the 3 won’t be out until late 2017.
Mmm… well it’s going to be close, but I was hopeful the first shipment might get it… (I still think they should change it to a global limit, not a per-company limit… but that’s just me and my crazy logical side talking…)
Also – P100D… why have we not gotten a rumor article yet?!? =-P
Only you have $60 k to get one of the first out
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Question – does anyone know if the $1,000 is refundable? (If for some reason I have to pull out before the car actually starts deliveries?)
If so, I’m very likely to be placing a deposit first thing in 29 days and some odd hours…
(Other question – do people on the east coast really get to order it hours before us here on the west coast? Cuz I have some friends I’ve been meaning to visit…)
And can we place it by phone?
Edit – scrap that, I just emailed my local sales associate to find out. You’ve gone and done it Kyle. You’ve gotten me in trouble.
How many readers do you have at this point?
I am thinking about it too. I have a lot of questions and no time to do the research. One being Otis11’s question about the refundability of the deposit. I would love to connect with someone who has already done a bunch of research. But I am thinking that if I can change my mind later, it is worthwhile to get my butt in line early on the 31st and get in the queue so I can be rest assured I’ll get delivery early enough to qualify for the tax credit. The other aspect is squeaking more mileage out of my current 202,000 mileage vehicle between now and then. (Also bummed to hear no leather seats.)
Where the Model X initial deposits refundable? I am under the impression they were and would assume the Model 3 would be the same.
A smaller Model S, without the fake front grille, with pushbutton door handles (like Model X but with better, bigger, easier-to-use pushbuttons), smaller wheels, no sunroof, rear cupholders and USB ports (like Model X), improved front cupholders, door-pocket storage, and of course steel frame and plastic body panels (for cheaper repairs)…
Yeah, that’s my dream car.
Not going to compete with BMW and Lexus for my purchase if the 3 cuts down on too many luxury features.
Never going to a gas station is at the top of my list of luxury features.
But there are so many things you’ll miss about gas stations:
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/11/18/miss-gas-stations/
I never realized how much I really don’t miss gas stations until I stopped driving… I actually went a solid 3 months on a single tank a while back. (Temporarily moved to a place where I can bike most everywhere I need to go).
Yeah… (Though, being able to fill my entire tank for under $20 helped ease the annoyance a bit. Not enough, but a bit.)
Ha. A Chevy Bolt can do that. A leaf courd do that now. Tesla 3 is “designed to compete with the BMW 3”. So it can’t skimp on too much.
Need that 200 mile range, so that Leaf is out. The Bolt has good city utility, but not everyone likes the utility car look.
I’ve had a Leaf for nearly five years, and it’s because of that experience as an EV owner that I can honestly say: there is no amount of luxury that you can stuff into an ICE car that will get me to buy it. It would be like trying to talk me into a luxurious tube screen TV, or a diamond studded rotary phone 🙂
The Model 3 will have luxury options, but not at the base price.
It will cut on features compared to the Model S, not compared to the 3 series, A4, C class, etc.
No leather seats on a $35K car? Not sure about that one …
But, I’ll take a smaller Model S.
lol don’t be such a leather snob.
I gave up dusty cloth seats in the 80s, after every cheap domestic car shipped with them, but to each his own.
I had a Mercedes 380 SE for twenty years with plastic perforated (MB Tex) seats that felt better than leather and lasted so much longer. No reason why synthetic seats shouldn’t be better than leather
I hope not. Hopefully it will be something entirely fresh and compelling.
Tesla is not gonna offer a car without leather. Obviously it won’t have all the bells and whistles the model s has, but leather, backup camera, navi ect is pretty standard these days.
Totally agree. I don’t have the time to do the research, but I’d love to know if there’s a single car with a $35K base price that comes with cloth seats as standard. This is NOT a precedent you want to set.
$35K is the entry point for affordable luxury/sport sedans. It would place the Model 3 essentially head-to-head with the Audi A4, which it should beat in all categories, including performance, if they do it right.
The 70K model S starts off without leather seats.
Yeah youre right. Even a honda accord/civics have leather when they get close to 30k. Also, I hope they don’t “play it safe” with styling. A lot of the cars selling well right now like the Lexus F sport lines, the Cadillacs, audis ect all have pretty aggressive grills.
Selling cars in the $30k range will be much harder for Tesla. BMW/Audi might be their targets, but there are a lot of other cars in that range. BMW and Audi make up a very small percentage of the sales.
100% fake. One of the easiest way to get money, for car makers, is to offer leather seats optional for insane amounts of money. Leather is basically a scrap from the meat industry.
The key points where savings can be made (a part of course the battery pack) are steel vs. aluminum, wheels and brake size, complexity of body panels and weldings, re-use of proven/off the shelf subassemblies.
Trim-down does not reduce costs (that’s what car companies would like you to think), it forces consumers to spend more and allows for misleading ads.
Suggest you go online and see how much that “scrap” leather actually costs. Good leather is ~ $10.00 to $15.00 per sq. ft.. It takes special equipment and skills to sew it, and there is a lot of wastage.
About the Author:
James Ayre,
“After an early life spent in the Imperial Free City of Dortmund, James
followed the river Ruhr to Cofbuokheim, where he attended the University
of Astnide.”
Somebody who writes crap like that in his CV, must surely be loony.
Well didn’t Holzhausen say in one panel talk that early on they had to make a choice between making something safe (smaller version of model S) or something new (+ riskier).
Hints we have received so far it will be something new:
+ Elon demanded the super low drag co-efficiency
+ Reddit interview (quote the author mentioned)
Hints so far it will be something safe:
+ “20% smaller Model S”, pleasing the wider audience, “designed to compete with BMW3”
+ Design language, S-3-X-Y car family will probably follow a set of core design principles, yet the tech inside differs (autopilot 2.0, car sharing functions etc.)
Now 35 000$ car is still rather pricey for an electric car, maybe they will leave the something new version for the 2020 market (even more time to make the component costs down and reach a 15 000$ Tesla model T <- if Ford ever gives up the naming rights)
Super low drag co-efficiency can be done without extreme design. Right underbody, wheels, mirror treatment goes a long way.
Don’t you mean S-3-X-Y-R surely the next gen roadster is in the works at some level and set to be AWESOME.
Yes I have seen the mercedes demonstration pilot, but in this case it will not be just a smaller copy of model s
The next roadster will indeed be magnificent but as far as design goes Elon and others have consistently referred to S-3-X-Y and roadster in it’s own class
Why dont they remove the mirrors and put cameras to substantially reduce the drag….like Nissan has 4 cameras just have to use the side cameras as mirrors and parking aid.
Not sure it’s legal yet
Agreed, would make sense to integrate the cameras and add the side mirrors as an addon, which the customer can remove when the legislation changes or more likely customer removes with own risk
Regulations!
Tesla has been trying to get this regulation changed for years, and eventually will, but it is taking some time.
When are these Dinosaur Politicians gonna get with the PROGRAM!!!!!!
I see so many cars on our streets with broken side mirrors and no Cops stopping them….Agreed…”I say put them on and have them be removable by customer at own risk.”
Is it possible to order one in Asia or Australia for delivery in the US?
(The time zones would give you a significant head start. Pretty much first in the queue for the first US 3s to be delivered, thus almost guaranteed to get the full $7,500 credit, which would otherwise be doubtful.)
Actually, it would almost certainly make financial sense to book a transatlantic return flight, with a night’s accommodation in Eastern Europe somewhere, if this were to be the case.
Assuming that the bookings need to be done in person, with photo ID. Hmm…
They’re going to have to make the rules pretty clear beforehand, to prevent lots of people trying to “game” the system.
It would make sense to allocate vehicles by location.
Will it have 4 doors or 2? Anyone know yet or care to speculate?
It will most certainly be a 4-door sedan.
Given the class it is competing in, it may eventually offer both but must start with a 4 door (hatch or not).
i hope Model 3 has leather, heated seats/steering/mirrors….otherwise its not gonna compete very well with the Leaf….if not Im not buying one.
thats a concept, it won’t look anything like that. And its still a nissan.
Nissan has way more (15) service/dealers than Telsa (1) in Greater Vancouver so I would rather go with them and not drive an hour to get to a Tesla dealer to warranty my car. Plus Nissan is Japanese and they build quality vehicles as per what I see in my Shop. But again if they offered to pick and drop the car at no extra charge like Lexus does then no problem.
I own a lexus. They don’t offer a pick up/drop off service here in CA. Nissan/Infiniti has lots of issues from my experience. BTW, You don’t need to service Teslas. They have no engine, transmission, water pump, timing belt, oil changes ect. You just need the battery/brakes/wheels checked every 15k miles or so.
Lexus in Vancouver, Canada offers free home/office service.
Then the Leaf will be the same……”You just need the battery/brakes/wheels checked every 15k miles or so”
That’s a show car; don’t expect anything similar to be produced any time soon.
They better make it soon or Tesla Model 3 here I come!
You must get all bells it has to get one of the first tesla 3 out first