Tesla Model 3 Reservations Now Open… For Employees
A Reddit thread appears to show a completed reservation for a Tesla Model 3. Before you call it a fake, Tesla has actually confirmed that employees will get access to reserve a Model 3, at the normal price, ahead of the general public.
The reservations require a $1,000 deposit, which can be made with a credit or debit card, and the amount is fully refundable or can be applied to the purchase of a Model S or X prior to the time that the Model 3 purchase is confirmed.
While it may seem like a minor coup that employees are able to get in line first, it may not have any effect on production order, as Elon stated that higher-optioned builds will be prioritized. This allows Tesla to produce the higher-profit and higher-complexity models first to iron out any kinks and rake in early profile while also rewarding higher-end consumers with an earlier place in line. There’s no word on how long this prioritization will be in effect, but for the early releases, it is sure to be a factor.
Having said that, the confirmation image posted shares that, “You will be invited to configure your Model 3 in the order of your reservation,” which seems to fly in the face of previous reports… though, being able to configure the car first doesn’t necessarily mean it will arrive first. Yet another twist in the long tale that has been the build-up to the Model 3 reveal… and the even longer wait before the first production Model 3 cars hit the streets.
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Not sure who would be bothered by this as I would prefer the employee’s have a vested interest in manufacturing a great car as it might be one they will be actually driving. I’ll be putting a deposit when available online April 1st from the comfort of my chair.
It’s also called “Eating your own dogfood” http://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/eatyourowndogfood.asp I’m definitely in favor.
Model3 presented as a black spot. Spot on.
Reminds me of the Mirai. The Mirai is for sale, the Mirai is for sale! Just don’t ask where you can fill it up…there are at least a dozen filling stations in the nation, no worries! …sorry, with your name, I couldn’t resist.
Don’t be sorry, I understand you are in pain, let hydrogen be with you
Troll elsewhere.
Actually, the Mirai is no longer for sale. Toyota told dealerships to hold off until they can figure out the hydrogen supply issue.
Poof! Just like that?
Well, let us give them credit where it is due. Perhaps it was all a feint to throw off the competitors…but we saw through it didn’t we.
The Model S is kind of a rare bird in the huge Tesla parking lot at the Fremont factory at the moment. It will be interesting to see how things change (or not) after the Model 3 release.
I’m with you on this. $80k is a lot for the average Delivery Specialist or factory worker but $35k for a car you helped built that you believe in? Yeah, I’m thinking it’s going to be a flood of 3’s into all Tesla employee parking lots.
They’ve 12,000 employees. Hopefully they won’t all buy one. 🙂
I can definitely see them working even harder knowing that one of them might be theirs.
I expect nearly all of them to order one.
Probably not right away.
With any luck it will be spread out over a few years by which time the production levels will be hitting the hundreds of thousands.
Tesla continues to do The Right Thing. Totally support this, even if it means I’m having to wait a few more months…
Just imagine the view when the whole Fremont Factory parking lot is full of Model 3. Love it! 🙂
While it sucks for other people to have to wait a bit longer it’s the right move for Tesla in my opinion. You gotta reward the earlier supporters (including workers and previous Tesla owners).
This matches previous processes for the Roadster, Model S, and Model X.
— The reservation order is the order in which you are invited to configure your car. (For S and X, the Signature Series was a way of jumping the line for configuration. Now, for Model 3 being an employee jumps the line, and being a Tesla owner jumps the line but behind the employees).
— If you commit to a configuration with delayed components, your order gets shoved to the back of the line behind the people who ordered a model where all the components are ready.
— For certain options (like the powertrain variants and the charger variants and the suspension variants), Tesla seems to like running the production line for one version of the option at a time. So the cars are batched by the choice made for that option, with the most expensive variant going first, until they’re in large enough batches to make Tesla happy from a production standpoint. So if you pick a less expensive variant of one of those options, you get pushed back in line, but not as much as if you picked an option with components which weren’t ready.
— Within a batch, the order of delivery is still the order in which people configured.
So earlier reservations get you ahead in line *all other things equal* but there are a lot of unequal things.
Actually, selling to employees makes sense. Daimler Benz had, maybe still has, such a program in Germany. They could buy and resell one car per year. Opened a new market channel among friends and relatives. Helped stabilize demand in economic downturns. The discount, for expenses saved, was like raise for the employees. Smart.