A new article claims that Tesla might be about to change its reservation process for the Model 3.
According to Teslarati en email was sent to current Tesla owners this week, informing them that company stores would take reservations from 10am Pacific time. The message told current owners that they would get priority in the queue, writes Steve Hanley for Gas2.
Current Tesla owners may not receive priority for Tesla Model 3
Now it looks as though that has changed.
“I was told they will open here in Miami [Dania] Beach Store at 10 am to take reservations. They thought they would be opening at 1pm [ET] to coincide with California, but they confirmed that they heard this morning from Corporate that they will be processing reservations immediately upon opening,” said Cesar Deschamps.
Apparently there will be no priority given to existing owners. “I spoke to two people at the store together, at the same time. They said the info came from their briefing. One said that Elon got a lot of emails complaining about the owners getting preference. This was their way of placating owners whilst pushing loaded cars,” said Deschamps.
Exciting growing ahead of March 31 unveiling
The issues arose because of a couple of factors. The Tesla Model 3 is expected to blow the competition out of the water in its price class. At just $35,000 the new car will have a 200 mile range, as well as the cachet of the Tesla name.
Assuming that production even starts on time, it will begin in 18 months. Despite the long wait time, and the fact that no one knows how the car will look yet, excitement has already reached fever pitch.
Another factor is money. Some analysts believe that Tesla will be approaching the 200,000 total sales limit when the Model 3 is released. Once the company has sold more than this number, the cars lose their $7,500 federal tax credit.
In order to get a Tesla Model 3 with the full tax credit, you’ll need to get one of the first cars off the production line. It’s another motivating factor for people to attempt to get to the front of the queue for the new car.
More expensive cars will be built first
Online forums are already full of chatter about when fans will start camping outside their local Tesla store on March 31. Some analysts believe that the company is set to take 100,000 reservations over the course of the first day. We could end up with a Black Tuesday-style scrum with people desperate to reserve their car.
Once production does begin, the most expensive cars will be the first ones built. This is standard practice at Tesla.
Deschamps explains in more detail. “Each region in the country will have their own queue and yes owners will receive priority first, but only after optioned cars first. In other words, the optioned cars are grouped first (highest will be delivered first) but inside this sub-list owners will get theirs first. So, it will be possible to get my car before an owner if my car has more options and a higher list[price],” he says.
The car is only set to be revealed for the first time on March 31. It may seem incredible that there is so much clamor over a car no one has seen, but that is the power of Tesla. The Tesla Model 3 looks set to define the company’s future.
