# What would make you decide to buy the new Tesla Model 3? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 22, 2016, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-make-you-decide-to-buy-the-new-tesla-model-3/749862 "2016-03-22T15:06:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-make-you-decide-to-buy-the-new-tesla-model-3/749862/21 "2016-03-22T23:16:31Z")
Having the money. But then, had I the money, I’d already have a roadster. Sitting in a MUCH nicer garage. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-make-you-decide-to-buy-the-new-tesla-model-3/749862/22 "2016-03-22T23:58:06Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > The Volt will turn on, but won’t go into gear, if it is plugged in. I assume the Tesla is the same. (probably to prevent driving away while attached–which I attempted once by mistake) no plug-in vehicle I know of- whether PHEV or EV- will move if it detects the charging plug is attached. edit: that’s because the actual _charging_ system is in the car. The “charging station” only passes through the AC power from the source it’s connected to, and it has sense/communication pins so it and the car can know each other’s status. but the actual AC-DC conversion and cell balancing is done by a module in the car. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-make-you-decide-to-buy-the-new-tesla-model-3/749862/23 "2016-03-23T00:52:16Z")
Why on EARTH would the rectification be in the car? Are the designers are afraid that some idiot will try to charge his car with an extension cord? Because: As long as you require a specialized box-and-cable to charge the car, why not put the rectifier in the box? Saves weight and eventually cost - a 2-3-4-car household will eventually use a single charger. And charging stations will be much cheaper with a single rectifier for multiple bays/cables. So why put it in the car, thereby increasing cost/complexity and weight? ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-make-you-decide-to-buy-the-new-tesla-model-3/749862/24 "2016-03-23T01:24:39Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > So why put it in the car, thereby increasing cost/complexity and weight? because then any car can charge at any station. duh. > [@](#): > > As long as you require a specialized box-and-cable to charge the car, why not put the rectifier in the box? Saves weight and eventually cost - a 2-3-4-car household will eventually use a single charger. because that rectifier probably needs cooling, and it’s easier to use the EV hardware on the car which has its own cooling circuit rather than trying to sell an expensive charging station with one built in. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-make-you-decide-to-buy-the-new-tesla-model-3/749862/25 "2016-03-23T01:30:36Z")
> [@Whiskey\_Dickens](#): > > An internal combustion engine 😛 You joke, but yeah, there are days that 200 miles won’t cut it for me. I can stop & get gas just about anywhere & be on my way again in \< 5 mins so this would have to be a second car for me, & if I get a second car it’s not going to have the top up very often. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-make-you-decide-to-buy-the-new-tesla-model-3/749862/26 "2016-03-23T01:32:09Z")
I’m putting a deposit down. By the time they are ready to ship to me, there should be plenty of reviews. Then I’ll decide whether to buy or not. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-make-you-decide-to-buy-the-new-tesla-model-3/749862/27 "2016-03-23T01:45:07Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > You joke, but yeah, there are days that 200 miles won’t cut it for me. How frequent are these days? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-make-you-decide-to-buy-the-new-tesla-model-3/749862/28 "2016-03-23T01:45:13Z")
The interesting question is how great the effect of many deposits would be at accelerating the development/production process. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-make-you-decide-to-buy-the-new-tesla-model-3/749862/29 "2016-03-23T01:48:57Z")
I doubt it’s a huge amount. Even if they get 100k $1000 deposits, that’s still only $100M. Tesla still has billions in available capital so I don’t think $100M will make a huge difference. I think the deposit is mainly to weed out non-serious buyers and to give them a reasonable estimate on necessary production capacity. ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-make-you-decide-to-buy-the-new-tesla-model-3/749862/30 "2016-03-23T02:22:29Z")
When they have one that will go 250,000 miles without a new battery pack, a SUV form factor with the same poor weather performance of my Grand Cherokee, and I can buy a used one at 100,000 miles for under $10,000. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-make-you-decide-to-buy-the-new-tesla-model-3/749862/31 "2016-03-23T03:06:37Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > You joke, but yeah, there are days that 200 miles won’t cut it for me. I can stop & get gas just about anywhere & be on my way again in \< 5 mins so this would have to be a second car for me, & if I get a second car it’s not going to have the top up very often. 😃 > [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > How frequent are these days? How frequent do they need to be? I’m not the kind of person who buys a $35K car – I’m more a $20K kind of guy. If I’m going to plop down substantially more than my usual economic level, I’d at least like a car that’s suitable for taking the five or six long road trips that I do each year. So I drive 200 miles, and then how long do I have to sit around while I recharge for another 200 miles? Or should I use a different car for those road trips, effectively making my Tesla my second car? A little rich for my middle-class sensibilities, thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-make-you-decide-to-buy-the-new-tesla-model-3/749862/32 "2016-03-23T03:56:13Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > How frequent do they need to be? It depends on your habits. Let’s suppose that these road trips entail two recharges each–maybe 400 miles each way, assuming you can charge at your destination. Each recharge takes around 20 minutes, so for 5 road trips you’re spending about 200 minutes a year. Perhaps the rest of the time you would have filled up a gas gar once a week. Since the electric charges at home, you’re saving 5 minutes a week for 260 minutes total. The electric comes out a bit ahead in this case, though if your road trips were longer that might not be true. On the other hand, some of that time can be overlapped with food and bathroom breaks, so 20 minutes might be a pessimistic figure for the net additional time. Overall, I’d say that people should actually work the numbers for their particular situation, and not trust their immediate reaction when it comes to charge times and the like. Going solely by the statistics, most Americans would save time with an electric like the Model 3. Obviously, there are always outliers. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-make-you-decide-to-buy-the-new-tesla-model-3/749862/33 "2016-03-23T04:24:45Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > because then any car can charge at any station. duh. > > because that rectifier probably needs cooling, and it’s easier to use the EV hardware on the car which has its own cooling circuit rather than trying to sell an expensive charging station with one built in. Any EV will require DC. Because they use batteries, and batteries require DC. Why build stations dispensing AC when you and every other car maker uses batteries requiring DC? I have no idea of the thermal profile for AC to DC. Heat sinks and fans are dirt cheap. And, for the green types: your photo voltaic solar panels produce DC. Why convert it to AC and then convert the AC back to DC for your car? ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-make-you-decide-to-buy-the-new-tesla-model-3/749862/34 "2016-03-23T04:50:17Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > How frequent are these days? 7 or 8 weekends last year + some day trips. Some of those were long weekends & some out one day & back the next. In the summer that gets expensive for a rental car. > [@kunilou](#): > > How frequent do they need to be? I’m not the kind of person who buys a $35K car – I’m more a $20K kind of guy. If I’m going to plop down substantially more than my usual economic level, I’d at least like a car that’s suitable for taking the five or six long road trips that I do each year. > > So I drive 200 miles, and then how long do I have to sit around while I recharge for another 200 miles? > > Or should I use a different car for those road trips, effectively making my Tesla my second car? A little rich for my middle-class sensibilities, thank you. My sentiments, just stated better. 🙂 > [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Let’s suppose that these road trips entail two recharges each–maybe 400 miles each way, assuming you can charge at your destination. Each recharge takes around 20 minutes That’s assuming there’s one on my route. That’s also assuming that someone didn’t pull in one minute ahead of me so now I need to wait an additional 19 minutes until they finish before I can even start my charge. That assumes that the charging port is even working. That’s assuming that someone didn’t get to the hotel before me & plug into their only outside outlet. That’s assuming that the cabin has sufficient electrical service close enough to plug in. I can tell you with certainty those are not good assumptions to take in upstate NY. > [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Perhaps the rest of the time you would have filled up a gas gar once a week. Since the electric charges at home, you’re saving 5 minutes a week for 260 minutes total. > > The electric comes out a bit ahead in this case, though if your road trips were longer that might not be true. On the other hand, some of that time can be overlapped with food and bathroom breaks, so 20 minutes might be a pessimistic figure for the net additional time. I can find 3-5 mins in my week but I don’t want to add 20 mins, 40 mins, or especially an hour or more (driving out of my way to get to the fast charger) onto a five, six, or eight hour road trip. Until the recharging options come close to that of the refueling infrastructure & speed of internal combustion engines, electric &/or alternative fuel vehicles are just a non-starter for me unless they’re a _third_ car. I want my convertible, damnit! ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-make-you-decide-to-buy-the-new-tesla-model-3/749862/35 "2016-03-23T05:05:42Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > I can tell you with certainty those are not good assumptions to take in upstate NY. Understood. Electrics aren’t for everybody. And it does depend on location, as you say–dense areas of CA will be different from rural NY. I mainly want to emphasize that the visceral first reaction many people have against electrics is not necessarily an accurate picture, since it ignores the several large benefits they have over gas cars. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-make-you-decide-to-buy-the-new-tesla-model-3/749862/36 "2016-03-23T05:37:15Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Perhaps the rest of the time you would have filled up a gas car once a week. Since the electric charges at home, you’re saving 5 minutes a week for 260 minutes total. I think you are being generous here. It may take 5 minutes to pump the gas, but the overall time getting into the station and getting back on the road probably doubles that. I would say, on average, you are spending 10 minutes on fueling. Though, sometimes that time gets integrated into going to the grocery store right there by the station, or that sort of thing, just as EV charging might overlap with lunch. And really, getting out of the car for a bit on a long trip is almost certainly a good thing. > [@usedtobe](#): > > Any EV will require DC. Because they use batteries, and batteries require DC. > Why build stations dispensing AC when you and every other car maker uses batteries requiring DC? An EV will use DC for the headlights and stereo and stuff like that. Not for the motors. Which is kind of important. One of the main points of in favor of the EV is regen braking. Under reversed load, the motor will be pumping AC back toward the batteries, so you have to convert that back to the DC that the batteries want. The difference between a unit that handles the regen current as opposed to one that handles wall current is not going to be much. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-make-you-decide-to-buy-the-new-tesla-model-3/749862/37 "2016-03-23T10:02:38Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I think you are being generous here. It may take 5 minutes to pump the gas, but the overall time doubles that. I would say you are spending 10 minutes on fueling. The issue isn’t the mathematics–it’s the inconvenience. Sure --it may take 10 minutes.. .But during those minutes, you aren’t bored, you make a few decisions, and you are in control So it is an _easy_ ten minutes, and you know with _absolute_ certainty that it’s easy. But-with the electric, you don’t know what will happen. And it may not be easy. You may need “only” 20 minutes to re-charge your battery. But even so, it’s an irritating 20 minutes ( like waiting at a doctor’s office.) And you don’t know for sure whether it will take 20 minutes or 40 minutes or 60 (because you have to wait for one or two people ahead of you in line).You don’t know for sure that there will always be a re-charging station conveniently located on your route. And once you arrive at your destination, you don’t know for sure that there will be a plug available outside your hotel or your client’s office. A century ago,when cars were new, people suffered the same uncertainty about finding gas (petrol) stations.But it was easier for them , because they did have the same expectations that we have for our cars, and our way of life. I’ll buy an electric car only after everybody else has…ie. when , say, half or more of all the cars on the road are electric, and the infrastructure is very, very well established. So let’s hope that not too many people think like me, --'cause if they do, well…it’s gonna take awhile. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-make-you-decide-to-buy-the-new-tesla-model-3/749862/38 "2016-03-23T10:51:16Z")
Ooops! I meant to type: > [@chappachula](#): > > A century ago, it was easier for them , because they did **NOT** have the same expectations that we have for our cars, and our way of life. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-make-you-decide-to-buy-the-new-tesla-model-3/749862/39 "2016-03-23T11:45:11Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > I have no idea of the thermal profile for AC to DC. > Heat sinks and fans are dirt cheap. At the power levels involved we’re talking water cooling. > [@](#): > > Why convert it to AC and then convert the AC back to DC for your car? Because when the car does regenerative braking its producing polyphase AC, so the hardware to rectify it to DC is already there. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-make-you-decide-to-buy-the-new-tesla-model-3/749862/40 "2016-03-23T14:06:06Z")
Hmmm, now I’m actually considering going on the waiting list. I had been thinking that when my current oldish car goes, I’d like to buy a Tesla someday (if they become affordable). I don’t need a new car right away so maybe I’ll go on the Model 3 waiting list. And if I change my mind I won’t lose any money. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-make-you-decide-to-buy-the-new-tesla-model-3/749862.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-make-you-decide-to-buy-the-new-tesla-model-3/749862.md?page=3)