I am an unequivocal car nut. I grew up working on hot rods with my older brother and spent a decade as navigator in a factory-sponsored rally car running some of the toughest courses Ontario has to offer including a near soul-destroying Canadian Winter Rally. In fact, I still own a high-performance sedan that I drive occasionally so I guess that makes me a borderline hypocrite because I truly love this planet and have faith that we will do the right things to save it - hopefully through the use of renewable energy and other useful technologies. I believe electric/hybrid cars have to be part of our future.
When I first saw the Tesla S at a major auto show, my excitement was really twigged by the technology and the beautiful package it was wrapped in.
On a trip to DistribuTECH a few years ago, one of the booths had a Fisker Karma all-electric high-performance model as part of their display. Nothing brings a crowd like a sexy automotive beast. The machine was definitely aimed at the supercar market. I found it very interesting that because they are virtually silent, blind people don't detect them at a stoplight. The solution was to add a familiar sound like a bird chirping that emanates from the front to alert the disabled pedestrian before they cross in front. Another option was that the sports car-minded owner could have their Fisker sound like a combustion engine-driven car like a Ferrari or Aston Martin installed in place of the non-existent exhaust system.
I live just along the road from a Tesla Dealership and I get to salivate a lot as there are dozens of the Model S five-door luxury liftbacks in in the area.
For all you gear-heads out there, the 2017 Model 3 combines real world range, performance, safety and spaciousness into a premium sedan. It should achieve approximately 345 kilometres of range per charge, turns 0-100 km/h in under six seconds, seats five adults, is designed to achieve a five-star safety rating, integrates autopilot technology, and has supercharging for quick turnaround times.
Most of the best selling cars in America, such as the Honda Accord or Nissan Altima, generally hit around 300,000 in sales every year. Tesla saw 276,000 sign on the dotted line to buy its newest all-electric Model 3 sedan. This response came over the course of just two days.1
The huge numbers of would-be buyers far exceeded optimistic forecasts, which turns traditional thinking on its ear about how to sell automobiles. It is expected to urge the car industry shift more dramatically to market electric technology to buyers.
Mainstream car manufacturers have long been flirting with electric technology and some have made decent headway in getting such vehicles on the road. Thus far the numbers have been disappointing - in the thousands, not hundreds of thousands of vehicles sold.
It now looks like Tesla is doing what no other manufacturer has so far been able to do - sell electric cars in big numbers. The company has received nearly as many Model 3 reservations recently as some automakers produce in a single year. According to auto analyst James McQuivey, Even if some pre-orders for the new model are withdrawn - of if Tesla struggles to meet such demand, which many analysts say is quite possible - the company has shown that consumer appetite for a well-designed car can be solid, even if it is purely electric.
"It's a watershed moment for rethinking vehicles all together, Tesla is putting together the idea that a vehicle needs to be cutting edge and cool, more like an iPhone than like a Model T," McQuivey said, "It's changing what we mean when we buy a car and what it says about us." He went on to say, "Years from now we'll look back and say Tesla started an electric vehicle revolution. But that's not because the people buying Tesla thought of it as an electric vehicle revolution."
Some of the additional comfort consumers may now have with electric technology is due to advancements in the batteries as well as the public infrastructure, analysts said. Drivers generally no longer need to fear running out of juice on the road, stranded without a power outlet. The Model 3, for instance, has a range of 215 miles, similar to that of a rival from General Motors, called the Chevy Bolt, which is priced in the low 30,000 USDs.2
And the number of publicly stationed superchargers - which are designed to recharge a battery in a matter of minutes rather than hours - will double to 7,200 by the end of next year, Tesla said. The company also expects its network of car chargers to grow to roughly 20,000 locations by the same time.
Some of the intense demand for the Model 3 may simply be the fruits of Tesla's public-relations strategy, which centres on its charismatic chief executive, Elon Musk. Interest in his newest creation was helped by the critically acclaimed reviews of the company's more expensive models as well as flashy presentations that featured his cars' cutting-edge tech, such as the ability to summon the car, with no one inside, through a smartphone app. So complete is the Model S that automotive journalists recently gave it a 103 rating out of one hundred.
"The Model 3's huge reservation list should serve as a big wake-up call for the rest of the industry," said Kelley Blue Book analyst Tony Lim. "Tesla just did a lot of heavy lifting to attract attention to the EV segment. Now is the time for competitive manufacturers to begin leveraging this momentum that Tesla created and building awareness to their fully electric vehicles that have comparable performance and appeal."3
Tens of thousands of customers lined up outside Tesla's stores to order the car last week, with some camping out in tents to make sure they were among the first to put down their $1,000 deposits. The Model 3 is not expected to be delivered until the end of 2017.
"In regards to the recent news, we're certainly pleased to see such strong demand for affordable long range EVs," said GM spokesman Fred Ligouri. "We trust that the initial interest from consumers will continue when the Bolt begins production later this year."4
Doubts linger over whether Tesla can ever manufacture that many cars. "Definitely going to need to rethink production planning," a giddy Musk tweeted after the first rush when orders for the Model 3 hit 198,000. On the face of it, Tesla has never delivered more than 5,850 cars in a month according to estimates. And it has experienced delays in delivering its SUV, the Model X.
Hard meeting delivery targets or not, I take my hat off to the Tesla company for their outstanding technology. This might be a true friend of the future. Did I mention the proposed space travel currently in the works?
1 Brian Fung, Matt McFarland. "The car industry has never witnessed what Tesla is about to go through,"
The Washington Post (April 4):
2 Ibid
3 Ibid
4 Ibid
