If you put in the address of your preferred fries supplier.
It’s magic.
Advertising - one big Superbowl ad for FSD should be enough to get some lookers.
Put in their home address and the shop address so they return it. Tell them to take it home - it will sell itself.
As Hawk pointed out, it’s pretty expensive. But as Musk pointed out, the majority of Tesla users don’t even try it out.
If you want people to pay for an expensive service, you might actually have to try to persuade them to do it. If you don’t advertise, most people aren’t aware the service exists. It can’t drive their decision to get a Tesla in the first place, or factor into a decision whether to use the service. (And of course, if you don’t have dealerships, you’re not providing opportunity or incentive for salespeople to try to get folks to buy the product).
More information is always helpful. However, I still am inclined to think most customers just simply do not want EV’s at all right now. Whether it’s the price, charging inconvenience, range, or other factors, there is a broader problem with EV adoption, upstream from this specific brand.
Having said that, as you point out, not everyone follows the technology and brand as much as some of us.
That part does surprise me and maybe Tesla should be more proactive in that respect with advertising and information disbursement.
I’m okay with the limited dealership model. I think that way of doing business is a relic of the past. But, it does take away some of the sales persuasion. We have one that is about 30 minutes away. They have allowed overnight demos of various models and with FSD active.
I saw a news item a while back that Tesla sales people were required to demonstrate FSD to potential buyers. I don’t know if that is still the case, but presumably it still is.
Probably not - but most customers also probably didn’t see the need for an iPod - then Apple spent $75 million making it a must have device.
It of course takes extra work to own an EV. One has to of course have a method to charge from home and that requires more research, planning, and an extra expense.
I think it would have less barriers if companies provided for and scheduled home charging installation with purchase - something Ford does with their Ford Power Promise. Buying a new vehicle is stressful. My wife hates it. Adding complexity - like in-home installation of a charger, makes adoption more challenging.
I think it remains a significant deterrent. I have driven hours (one way) to another state, twice to test drive EVs (once for me, twice for my wife - who decided to lease what she drove; I declined). I won’t buy a new car without a test drive. Thankfully, there are options for Tesla in my metro area but once you get outside of the city, there are none.
Until cars become a commodity (something I don’t think will happen in my lifetime), the vast majority of new cars are likely to be purchased through a dealership - as they continue to be today. Even in China, most new vehicles are still purchased through a traditional dealership or use various showrooms.
When I had a demo of the model S, the salesman spent a few minutes going over it but then let me go test it out on my own. It certainly wasn’t anything high pressure in terms of a pitch about the car or the FSD.
I think there is a clear difference. People saw the utility of it and wanted the Ipod and then the Iphone. The EV still carries substantial limitations and are suited to a select set of buyers. I would equate more to the Iphone, if it had been developed way ahead of broadband service or cell service with the ability to receive streaming. It would have had limited appeal. I think that is where we are with EV’s until charging is more convenient, particularly those that do not own or home or until range improves. I really think 500 might be the breakpoint and then easy 15 minute charging almost anywhere.
Of course, the price needs to be in line both as new and in the used market. The maintenance savings may allow for somewhat of a premium but it still needs to fit within the budget.
It would be helpful but I think solving the other primary barriers are a bigger hurdle.
It’s a substantial purchase and one that most do want to view and drive personally. There is survey data out that suggests the average American will travel up to 8 hours to get a good value on a vehicle. It makes me think, if the value proposition is right, people will make the trek to the closest dealer to have a look.
The proximity of the dealership I think has traditionally been for service. Since EV’s need little in that way, it limits the need for Tesla to have a large physical geographical footprint.
Hence, this thread. The OP posits that it’s because Detroit is stupid and marketing the wrong products.
I personally think it’s relatively low gas prices and our low population density. The latter causes longer trip lengths, bigger houses and bigger stores, and a host of other factors which affect how well consumer needs can be met by EV’s vs. ICE’s. Because EV’s are less suited for American consumers than consumers elsewhere, the U.S. is going to be a laggard market. Companies that primarily serve the US market are not going to be successful making a large shift to EV’s (absent massive government intervention), which is why Detroit isn’t making that shift.
I think that’s probably true. As much as I have wanted to pull the trigger on one, we have held off. The EV market is going to need to advance I think on its own, outside of maybe some role for the GOVT in helping with infrastructure/charging. I don’t know what Detroit will do. They are stuck between two worlds and it is difficult to make the capital commitments to make the leap. Toyota has been rumored to be working for a long time on a very long range battery technology. To me, this might determine the winner and shifting point for more mass appeal. But, they still haven’t figured out a way to produce it cost effectively. The one thing I completely disagree with Musk is on his belief that the 300 mark is sufficient range. I think he has it dead wrong.
Perhaps - but it’s probably good enough for now. Not for the US market, of course. It’s on the low side for US drivers. But it’s fine for European and Chinese drivers. And that’s where the cars are being sold and are going to be sold for quite some time.
In the US, a typical driver will go about 37 miles a day. With a range of 300 miles, they’ve got to fill up at least once a week. But in Europe and in China, they go about 20 miles per day. Half that of the US. They only need to fill up once every two weeks. And European/Chinese drivers will take many fewer intercity road trips.
Again, it’s the problem Detroit faces. If half (or more) of your customers are in the US, you have real problems if you don’t design your new vehicles to work in the US market. That’s where most of your sales have to be. But for companies like BYD or VW or even Tesla, where the majority of their customers are in China and Europe, you have the luxury of designing what fits mostly for those shorter drivers. Which lets you aim for a lower “tank” size without losing the bulk of your existing customer base.
Approaching 400 miles and I’m interested.
Let the technology mature a few more years or whatever it takes (not making a prediction).
In the meantime, hybrid works for a good increase in fuel efficiency for me.
While I agree with the conclusion, I disagree - at least a little - in your attribution of cause.
When EVs were introduced in the US, pickup was slow, as is so often the case with new technology. With the advance in range as well as (quite important, in my view) government incentives, sales took off, jumping from just 1% to 5% and then nearly 10% of sales within a couple years. This is the classic “S” adoption curve of new technology, so I would ascribe “price” as, if not the most important, then in the Top 2 issues on the list.
This is further demonstrated as the incentives were abruptly discontinued and sales plateaued. This was also done in several other countries: China, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden without the consequent (our at least as large) fall off in sales. As for it being a result of our driving habits, well yes, the US is #1 in “distance”, but Iceland and Luxembourg are not far behind, and Australia not so far behind them. Iceland and Luxembourg have better EV penetration than the EU (and the US, obviously) and sales have actually increased in Australia even though it lags (even) the US in infrastructure support.
There are many reasons for our lag: Purchase price, range anxiety, infrastructure, culture wars, low gas prices, and lack of compelling offerings among others. And while “range anxiety” is real and “charging convenience” is an issue, I’d put “Price” at the top. Of course even a terrific price won’t overcome issues such as Albaby has with not being able to drop an extension cord out his condo window, so there’s that.
Sure, but for EV’s, “Price” is a consequence of the things I mentioned.
Longer trips create the demand for larger batteries to get the same “suitability” of the car to match the users’ needs. The average sized BEV battery pack in the U.S. is significantly larger than in Europe. Our battery packs are about 90kwh, on average - in Europe, they’re about 70kwh. Which significantly and materially increases the cost of the car.
But don’t forget the other factor I mentioned: gas prices. The price of the EV is balanced by the cost savings one gets from fuel switching. IOW, gas prices - which is the other factor. Gas prices in Europe vary from country to country, but are basically double those in the U.S. Your ability to recoup the purchase price premium through fuel savings is much lower in the U.S. than in Europe. Which is part of why once the subsidies are removed, you continue to have linear EV growth in Europe (it was never S-curved for the European market, just a few countries that really buried the needle on subsidies and regulatory requirements) - but not in the U.S.
Of course the dollars and cents matter, but the US is in a different position than European buyers because we have low gas prices and long trip lengths. So our EV’s are proportionally more expensive, and our fuel savings are lower - which makes the economics worse here for buying EV’s than our Continental brethren.
