Marioshi

Elon Musk understands that the ownership experience is more than just delivery of the car. The preference for the west coast stems from the support network which is more established here where Tesla is from than the rest of the country/world. Tesla doesn't want people taking delivery of their cars in areas that aren't ready for them. A large part of the appeal is the access to the supercharger network and service centers.

TommyDeVito

I drive one for a DD. But I'll be the first to say it doesn't look good, but that doesn't matter to me. I tend to not give a damn what people think anyways. It's a tool, and for $199 a month and free charging it's hard to argue with it. I spend $0 a month powering the thing which is a significant dollar savings month to month.
It's also not something cops pay any attention to, nor anyone else, so I'm able to fast lane drive on the highway with ease most days. There are the days when someone with an ego, can't stand getting passed up by the breadvan and will burn $ passing me in the fast lane to prove some imaginary point. Diesels, any large truck, Porsches, sportscars in general. Every now and then that driver's ego gets awfully ruffled. Once in a while the shoe is on the other foot. I pull up to a light and there is an American V8 coupe blipping. With 100% instantaneous torque, the little wagon/hatch/breadvan can smoke most anything off the line. I caught a Camaro a few months back doing this. Loud exhaust, blipping, being a retard, so I nailed it off the green. Guy got caught out, overreving then chirping the tires shifting into second. It was until he got into the meat of the RPM band in second did he catch and pass me. It was funny to me watching ego fly. I busted his ass and took everything he had to pass that little ghey car.

The Tesla Model 3 doubles the range of the Leaf, and will offer a significant performance increase over the Leaf. It will also offer AWD. Teslas are electric, and all that, but they do perform quite well for a DD. Pretty quick cars, and plenty for most people driving to work, the store, or the mall.

I guess I'm getting old because I give 0 fuchs about "image", "ego" or anything else in regards to automobiles. A car doesn't define me, neither does my home, possessions, bank account or my work slacks.
I made the switch because too many Kalifornians and out of staters have moved to DFW. it's congested as hell, even with our exemplary highway transit system. I used to be able to get around the metro with relative ease, multiple highway choices, etc. Now it's a butt-fuch-athon. All the cagers going to the mall, megastores, etc, while surfing on their phones. These days I want to drive around them as little as possible and tend to drive as little as possible due to all the traffic, significantly increased over the last 3-5 years (thanks Kalifornians, you all moved here and all I got is traffic, higher property tax, and higher costs in general). i ride to the country most weekends to slay turns on the bikes, but in the city, around the mouf-breathers, I'm now at the point of driving the most fuel efficient, least maintenance thing I can. My DD is the actual picture listed above, same wheels, same color, everything. If I had to I'd definitely lease the next generation one due this year. But with the Tesla coming out with the 3, having driven a few S's, I get some performance back and AWD. Elon got my $ opening night, online however. I have never, and never will wait in a line for a consumer product.

An example of EV hate below. This was at a Twin Peaks. They have 240v chargers and I needed a charge. This is common at chargers. This kind of thing or some Prius driver parking in the charger space (referred to as ICING the spot).




At a 480V Chademo.

Chris Stack

I really don't give a crap what anyone else thinks about my cars, but I think the Leaf looks hideous and dorky and terrible and I don't want one. I think the Model 3 is gorgeous and will likely try to trade my TSX in for one in a few years.

s.hasan546

This plus the $7500 refund expiration.

Lets see how many cars they actually deliver. Tesla doesn't have that great of a track record of actually delivering on time

Nandska

It's understandable, but if you're waiting in line at the one in Northern VA and are hoping to be one of the first to get an allocation (to get the tax credit, which would make sense) to find out that you've waited in line for no reason (not me, I did mine online), would really suck and I would hope that Tesla would take that into account.

TommyDeVito

It's understandable, but if you're waiting in line at the one in Northern VA and are hoping to be one of the first to get an allocation (to get the tax credit, which would make sense) to find out that you've waited in line for no reason (not me, I did mine online), would really suck and I would hope that Tesla would take that into account.
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Unless Tesla renegotiates with the US gubmint, that is out of their hands. The tax credit is tied to sales.

Regarding the charging infrastructure. I hope some of these people who don't know anything figure out that you don't have to use Tesla branded chargers to charge the thing. Here we have Chargepoint chargers (owned by NRG), Blink, and a few others. If Tesla didn't put a single supercharger here you'd still have access to a pretty good charging infrastructure. Most of us charge at home. You wall mount a 240v charger (can buy at Home Depot, Amazon, plenty of brands to choose from) in your garage and you're pretty much done with it. I charge somewhere >95% at home.

TommyDeVito

it does. But it's a bloody marvelous DD for all the reasons you stated.

Mr.E.G.

Ding, ding, ding. If the Tesla 3 was not electric and just had a regular six cylinder ICE, it would still be a desirable car. The fact that it's electric and all that is just icing on the cake.

I totally get what Tommy is saying about now caring if the Leaf is cool or not. That's a totally respectable position. The problem is that the rest of the world does care, hence the disparity in interest in this car vs. the 3.

Bullwings

Model 3 looks much cooler.

Also, at the end of the day:

"because Tesla"

Musk has done an excellent job at building a "brand".

That's what this is about. He's selling a brand just as much (if not more) as he is selling a car.

RedCelica

Leaf is dogshit ugly. BUT! At only a few years old and <30k miles they are sub $10k used. Im paying $40 a week to fill up my TSX with a 60 mile a day commute. At that rate a $10k leaf would pay for itself in 4.8 years. The thought of being stranded is the deterrent I have from really buying one. I too, dgaf what others think about my DD...because it's a DD. If I was going to buy an EV right now, I guess the only decent looking option would be the Focus unless you're gonna pony up for the Tesla.