Why Tesla Cars Are Getting Cheaper When Others Are Getting Expensive?

AFR said that currently cars are expensive and the situation will continue to 2022.

Second-hand car prices have jumped 34 per cent on average in Australia since a year ago, and are up 10 per cent since the start of January. Moody’s Analytics senior economist Michael Brisson said on Thursday that even when supply of new cars built up again after a semiconductor shortage, high used car prices would persist well into calendar 2022 even though the rate of growth is now slowing.

Then I noticed that Tesla 3 deals are coming and coming and more are being shipped from Shanghai. Is it something special about EVs that is not affected by the global supply chain problem?

Should I sell my Holden Acadia while none-ev cars are expensive, and buy a Telsa?

Comments

                • +3

                  @Seraphin7: Might want to look up what promulgated means. Your FUD is pretty obvious bullshit, so you've either never been in one, or you have an agenda. I mean XF Falcon. Lol.

                  • +2

                    @[Deactivated]: I think they are a dreamer, or jealous?

                  • +1

                    @[Deactivated]: Might want to look up who originally quoted the XF Falcon.

                    Might want to look up that definition yourself.

                    Might want to look up what assumptions you're making here.

                    Might want to look up what agenda you're running.

                    LOL.

            • +2

              @Seraphin7: Tesla quality is on par with most American cars or cars sold into the American market. That is to say, pretty bloody ordinary. EV premium aside, they're awful compared to 99% of what's on the Australian market and not what anyone would expect from a $60k car.

          • +3

            @[Deactivated]: Why is it whenever someone has a poor opinion of Tesla, fanboys always say you’ve never been in one?

        • +2

          XF sold pretty well back in the day.

          • +3

            @smartazz104: XF was a popular car in its day.
            Loved ours until the dash cracked up. Didn't have the best transmission, but nothing else went wrong with ours

  • Because of plans.

  • +1

    cause he's pumping his dogecoin. Where Lambo soon

  • +7

    All part of Elons plan to make EVs affordable. Not everyone can put $70k+ towards a car. Love him or hate him, I think what he is trying to do within the EV space is pretty incredible.

    Look at the poor attempts by say Mazda with their MX-30 Ev. Apparently the range is crummy and at $75k+ pretty pricey too.

    • -2

      don't need 75k just 1k per month for 5 years and a balloon payment lol

      not that i would recommend getting one on finance, unless you already had the cash and had it invested in other assets returning more than the interest payments on the car.

    • Tesla aren't the cheapest EVs by a wide margin. An ID.3 for example is 5000 Euros cheaper than the model 3 in Europe before any government incentives.

      • Not saying Tesla's are cheap. I'm saying that Elon aims to make it more affordable in the not so distant future. At the moment, EVs are pretty pricey in Oz because our Government isn't taking initiative to incentivise uptake unlike those in Europe and especially Norway. We are slowly getting more infrastructure for EV charging stations but it is slow. It's a slow process but hopefully it'll make it more affordable for the average Aussie.

        • Agrees on that.

          Not a huge fan of Elon or Tesla but the strategy is clearly visible from things like website displayed price is the price you'll pay.

          Even BMW is now trying software unlocked optional features, clearly influenced by Tesla if you remember how euro car sales strategy works.
          i.e) you get NIL negotiation power for any custom build

          • +1

            @[Deactivated]: Plus Tesla still have major QC issues. Of course as they are new to car making and that's a given.

      • And is a shit car. How is an ID.3 even comparable to a Model 3?

        • +1

          It's surprisingly good. I'm looking forward to compare ID.4 and model Y

      • Doesn't the EU still have a 10% imprort duty on foreign cars?

        I don't think Tesla is building a factory in Germany for cheap labour. When they are built in the EU they won't be subject to tariffs.

  • Where are these model 3 deals?

  • Alongside other comments - I would have thought the whole tax breaks for electrical cars and cheaper costs of batteries etc. is feeding into it? As well as other competitors entering the market creating more competition. Should all just point to EVs going down in price.

    • It’s not the government driving adoption through lower prices. In NSW tax break support is negligible/ non existent.

      • +1

        Apparently this changed as of today and NSW now has the most comprehensive support for EV’s in Australia. https://thedriven.io/2021/10/20/australias-most-generous-ev-…

        If the internet wants to keep proving me wrong - we have very low minimum pay and the government isn’t doing anything about it.

        • +1

          Meantime VIC is taxing EV's because they aren't paying tax at the pump. Had they kept fuel tax purely for fuel related infrastructure (ie roads) and not siphoned off into general revenue, then I'd agree EV's aren't paying their fair share towards the cost of roads and should be taxed. But on the flip side EV's aren't contributing to pollution related heath issues thereby reducing hospital admissions - albeit most charging power comes from burning coal.

    • Battery tech is getting cheaper. BYD have done a lot of work, cheaper for $35k SUVs.

      https://evcentral.com.au/small-medium-35k-suv-to-lead-byd-ev…

  • like facebook and any other free website or service, your data is being sold. they lower the cost to the consumer because it is being subsidised by big companies that want your information. where you go, where you travel, what music do you like, around what time you leave and come back, etc…
    its up to you to decide if that bothers you or not.

    • +3

      Dude, this is completely FUD.

      • +2

        That Facebook profits from your personal data is not FUD, it's literally their business model.

        Not sure what the heck this has to do with car prices though.

        • Perhaps Tesla also sells you driving data?

          • @Euphemistic: No, they don’t.

            • @Wonka: How do you know?

              As in, how do you really know?

        • Totally agree re: Facebook and add in all the others, Google, Twitter etc etc but saying it has anything to do with EV’s is complete BS.

        • +1

          Your anonymized travel data is absolutely sold by Tesla.

          Personalized data will soon be used by insurance companies to modify premiums.

          • @anglais: Great - then my insurance will go down instead of subsiding the crazies. But then again the crazies will price themselves out of insurance - then who pays for the crazies damage ?
            Insurance is a socialist concept - all in or all out.

  • +6

    Why Tesla cars are getting cheaper when others are getting expensive?

    Tesla doesn't have supply issues…. Unlike ICE OEMs who can't get enough parts, so just rack up the price to make more profit of its sheep.

    • -4

      Tesla doesn't have supply issues

      They're also not building to the scale of any of the top 10 manufacturers in Aus, let alone worldwide

      Easy to say you don't have supply issues when build a fraction of the 'competition'

      • +5

        They are going to sell about 1 million cars this year. BMW sold 2.4 million cars last year, so with production constraints, lets say they made 2 million cars in 2021. I guess technically 1/2 is a fraction.

        But with 2 large plants coming online in 2021/22, you would have to assume that Tesla is going to probably match BMW production in 2022. I would say they are in competition. (Texas and Berlin start production of the Model Y this year, with an initial rate of about 500k cars a year each. Texas will start producing the Cybertruck next year, but we wont see any real volume till 2023 I think).

        They're not going to compete with Toyota or VW in terms of volume in the short term, but then the average selling price of their cars is a lot higher.

        • Tesla = BMW production. That'll be a paradigm shift.

  • I believe most manufacturers are regulating what models they produce due to the chip shortages, so therefore the models with small margins are getting axed for more premium models with higher margins and thus profits. This is working extremely well for most manufacturers as they cash in in this lucrative limited supply high demand market currently.

  • -1

    Government subsidies via reduction in tariffs and taxes along with the removal of radar has helped drop prices.

  • +2

    They need to pump them out as budget EV are coming, VW already announced the whole SEAT EV range is coming to Aus in late 2022 for example.
    But late next year, going to have a lot of EV in the Australian market.

    • +1

      Do you really think Tesla is worried about VW group MEB platform cars? They haven't made a dent anywhere else in the world, why would they here?

      Just last week Elon attended a meeting of VW execs to help them make cars more efficiently. He's literally trying to help them (and I say this as a shareholder in both companies).

      • +7

        VW ID3 outsold the Model 3 during August in Germany. Weird you don't mention that despite being so passionate on this thread about anything else.

        Musk attends industry meets because he needs the favour of lobby groups, supply chains, labour unions and technology swaps in Germany. Is it a coincidence that the VW board is a one stop shop for all of those stakeholders, I doubt it.

        Look I have EV company shares too, but you sound like a shill on this thread.

        • Tesla staggers their international deliveries, you can't take one month as an example. There were probably zero imports to Germany in August. The fact that Germany is the only country in the world where the id3 gets close isn't a surprise. You just have to look at world wide sales (Or maybe full year sales even in Germany). For the first 6 months of the year the iD3 and Model 3 were neck and neck in Germany in sales, and the iD3 was a new car. I'd gather that by year end the Model 3 outsells the iD3 and the Model Y and Model 3 outsell the iD3 and iD4 combined. The Model 3 is already outselling the 3 Series, A4 and C class in Germany, which are it's real competition.

          https://cleantechnica.com/2021/10/10/tesla-model-3-outsells-…

    • +1

      VW =/= Budget

      Even Hyundai's EV is 20k more than the model 3

  • +23

    It's really simple. It's the reason why the VW CEO invited Elon Musk to talk to the top VW execs in a meeting last week. Tesla has a focus on the machine that makes the machine. They focus on bringing production costs down, and they have the highest margins in the car industry because of that, so they can afford to drop the price.

    If you look at the Model 3 as an example. They have refined the design over the years it's been in production, from something that was good but probably poorly made, to something that is state of the art in terms of production engineering. To give you an example on costs, a Model 3 takes 10hrs to build, a VW iD3 takes 30 hours to build. The costs associated with that are huge, and it's a massive worry for the VW CEO.

    They went from having hundreds of castings to make up the front and rear crash structures, (which is what most of the industry does), into single piece castings. It means structurally, the Model 3 is 3 main parts, rear cast, battery, front cast. This saves a lot of weight, a lot of cost (no welding, so no time/manpower), and makes the cars stronger and safer. Then they changed the batteries from custom made 2170 lipo cells to LFP blade cells made my CATL in the base Model 3. They took a weight and packing penalty, but the base model has a smaller battery anyway, so it still fits in the same space, and they had already taken the weight out of the car since it had been launched, so the net weight penalty was negligible. They swapped the motor in the back for a performance motor to make up for any excess. The LFP batteries are much cheaper, and offer superior performance in many circumstances. So costs come down, but the quality of the product goes up.

    Tesla also tries to vertically integrate as much as they can. They make batteries in house for all their mid range cars, they try and source as little parts from suppliers as possible, (they even build their own seats, which no one else does), and they adapt. Tesla was capable of record deliveries this year, despite the chip shortage, because they are able to change the chips they use (sensors etc), on the fly. No one else does this. Mercedes has hundreds of thousands of half built cars sitting in and around factories waiting for chips for example. This costs them money, which is then passed onto consumers.

    Tesla also doesn't license tech when they don't need to. That's why you don't see carplay or android auto, that's why you don't see 360 cameras. They do all software in house. They also design their own silicon for their self driving, which means they have a much better understanding of the capabilities, unlike other companies that just buy their autonomous hardware from Nvidia and Mobileye.

    • +6

      Obviously a few people have reading issues with you.
      100% agree with everything.

      • +8

        I'm not giving opinions there, I'm stating a series of facts. These are the exact reasons why the costs are going down. People don't like facts.

        • I do. They give us a foundation of certainty.
          Let's have a beer or two when I'm next up there.

        • -3

          I'm not giving opinions there, I'm stating a series of facts.

          You need to recognise that when you state facts clouded so heavily in fanboy opinion and treat anyone with an alternative opinion as an imbecile you start to sound much like the people that are taking horse dewormer for covid, refuse to get vaccinated and think the US election was stolen.

          • +1
          • @Euphemistic: What's the sentence that made you feel like an imbecile?
            Also can you present your counterarguments for each of his points? That would be the best way to to prove him wrong.

    • +1

      Not sure why you have such a boner for Tesla but
      these guys disagree with your assertion that Tesla has the highest margins in the industry

      https://www.statista.com/statistics/1186661/car-company-prof…

  • +4

    Papa Elon already said Model 3 was pricy here in Australia. So he's hestiaant to Jack prices here. Also price jacking here is greedy dealers, I just looked there is 2021 WRX STI for $85K lol

  • +2

    Before you buy a Tesla do your research on EV's.

    Especially in regards to charging and driving range.

    • +1

      DYOR, always a valuable contribution.

      • +2

        I’ve read people and heard of People who jump into buying a EV and don’t realise how long charging can take lol

        • +3

          20 minutes every 400km is a long time?

          • +2

            @[Deactivated]: Not on a regular power outlet….Which is another thing people don't research

            • +1

              @Danstar: You don't park your car at night? Or do you drive 24hrs a day? It doesn't take any research to understand that you charge your car when you are sleeping and wake up with a full charge every morning. Common sense man.

              • +5

                @[Deactivated]: Come on man. There is a lot of downsides in regards to electric vehicles, I'm assuming you must have one and just brush over any of the negatives involved and only represent the positives. Ie.

                20 minutes every 400km is a long time?

                To the regular Joe who reads that, maybe won't know it will take 24+ hours to charge at home without buying extra accessories

                Common sense isn't very common ;)

                • @Danstar: What downsides? Be specific.

                  I've never taken 24hrs to charge anything. On 240V you can easily put in 200km range while you sleep. More than enough for the next day. You never run the battery right down in daily use. On a trip you might, but then you're supercharging.

                  • +7

                    @[Deactivated]: Ok my apologies. Best cars ever!

                    • -3

                      @Danstar: So unable to back up what you're saying. Funny that.

                      • +3

                        @[Deactivated]: You said YOU never charged anything for 24 hours. I stated a fact that charging can take a very long time

                        Eg. What if you are on empty and need to travel a far distance ? You have to wait …

                        Anyway, I'm not against EV's. Don't be so triggered.

                        • +4

                          @Danstar: 24hr charging just doesn't happen. Home charging is for overnight top ups. Let's say you're driven from Sydney to Melbourne and arrive with 5% left. If you went home and slow charged on 240V you'd have about 200km range the next day. But let's say immediately after arriving, the next day you need to drive to Adelaide? You set off with your 200km and top it off in Ballarat, where you'd arrive with just under 100km of range left. I just don't see the problem you are trying to create here? If you really wanted 100% charge in the morning, you could do a quick 20min charge at a supercharger in Melbourne and you'd be able to top it off easily overnight on 240V.

                          But that is a highly improbable set of events, and even then it's not a problem. I'm failing to see under what circumstance you would need to charge a flat battery for 24hrs on 240V?

                          • +4

                            @[Deactivated]: You are under the assumption everyone has time to wait to charge their car or has access to a charging station…

                            • +5

                              @Danstar: You don't have to fill up a car with petrol? You don't urinate or eat?

                              With an EV sum total you spend way less time at petrol/charging stations than an ICE car.

                              Melbourne to Sydney takes the same time in a modern EV as it does driving an Ice car, unless you're a complete nut and don't have lunch and don't take a leak. My mum used to have a diesel W212 E class that could do Melbourne to Sydney on one tank, no problem. But I drove it To Sydney and stopped at Glenrowan, Holbrook and Goulbourn, to eat, stretch my legs and take a couple of leaks. Total travel time was just over 10hrs. Exactly the same as an EV with 2-3 charging stops.

                              I also drove from Goondiwindi on the QLD border to Melbourne in one day, in my ICE 4*4 after a week on Fraser Island. It was stupid, I was knackered, and I only stopped 5 times. Twice for fuel, twice to get something to eat and once to go to the Parkes dish.

                              I just ran that trip through Google maps for an ICE (14:42mins) and ABRP for a 2022 Model S LR (15:12mins).

                              Taking into account eating and rest breaks, no time difference.

                              For reference, in my 4*4, it took me 15:30 including breaks, and being liberal with my interpretation of the speed limit.

                              So honestly, charging isn't an issue. Taking a 2022 Model S onto Fraser Island would be an issue though. Lol.

                              • +2

                                @[Deactivated]: Takes 3 minutes to fill up my
                                Petrol tank which gives me around 600-700kms and have a petrol station at almost every corner.

                                :)

                                Oh and let’s not start on battery life ;)

                                • +5

                                  @Danstar: Battery life is longer than the life of the car. Current Teslas are designed to last 1,000,000km. Whether they do or not is a different question, but the battery will go 500,000km no problems.

                                  Charging stations aren't an issue, they are plentiful.

                                  Way to ignore everything else I said, in the stubborn belief you are right.

                                  • +4

                                    @[Deactivated]: You lost me when you spend less time at a petrol station.

                                    Your car sitting there charging means you have to be waiting for it…

                                    Mate; I’m not against EV’s. It just doesn’t suit me at this time and their are negative aspects of owning one…

                                    You’re almost as bad as the Xbox / Sony fanbOis when someone posts a console deal

                                    • -5

                                      @Danstar: So apparently you don't piss or eat. Interesting.

                                      • +1

                                        @[Deactivated]: We’re taking about the refilling of fuel/power for a vehicle. Not sure why you want to know about my pissing or eating habits.

                                        • -1

                                          @Danstar: I'd suggest you actually read the posts I put up for your benefit then, instead of wallowing in your ignorance.

                                          • @[Deactivated]: I responded accordingly. You suggested charging your car takes less time than refuelling. That’s just wrong.

                                            Anyway; it’s been fun. Hope you continue to enjoy your ev

                                            • -3

                                              @Danstar: That's not what I said at all. It's wilful ignorance like yours under the pretence of open mindedness that show someone's true agenda. You just have your mind set, and no examples or logic can change your mind. It's the exact mindset anti vaxxers have.

                                              • -1

                                                @[Deactivated]:

                                                It's the exact mindset anti vaxxers have.

                                                Now you know what it's like to talk to nonvegans about how we treat animals. Except IMO sparing tens of billions of animals per year is more significant and a better pitch than sucking Elon's d1ck. But that's just me.

                                                • -3

                                                  @afoveht: Oh you're a vegan. Thanks for telling us in a totally relevant Segway.

                                                  • @[Deactivated]: Hey, you started - with anti vaxxers - not me.

                                                    • +1

                                                      @afoveht: No, I'm pretty sure no one mentioned vegans. But I get why the looney anti vaxxer links in well with looney vegan philosophies.

                                                  • +1
                                  • -1

                                    @[Deactivated]:

                                    Teslas are designed to last 1,000,000km. Whether they do or not is a different question

                                    Designed to last 1,000,000 km is laughable given they rate as one of the least reliable cars around

                                    https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/6337648…

                                    • -2

                                      @parsimonious one: Mechanical reliability is not a problem. Door handles on early Model S, is another story. There is reliability, and then there is reliability. Pays to look at the details.

                                      • @[Deactivated]: I find it odd that you lambast others and state that you are only stating facts which simple google searches refute

                                        Here is another regarding tesla reliability

                                        https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/edgarst…

                                        Anyways I gather from the other comments that you are a renowned fanboy/ tesla zealot.

                                        Say hi to Elon for me

                                        • +1

                                          @parsimonious one: It's a real pity you didn't even read your own link, and just think the general term reliability means a car will break down. That's not the case. Thanks for providing a link that doesn't dispute my point at all.

                                          • +2

                                            @[Deactivated]: I read the article, it (like the other one I posted) says that Tesla’s are rated amongst the worst for reliability

                                            Thanks for replying with no alternate evidence except your clearly biased opinion.

                                            I get it you love Tesla’s

                                            We all get it you think Tesla’s are the best

                                            Give it a rest already

                                            • +1

                                              @parsimonious one: You literally have no understanding of what I am saying.

                                              Have a read.

                                              https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-model-3-drivetrain-design-el…

                                              I agree that quality issues on earlier cars are a concern for some peope. Door handles on Model S have terrible reliability, as does the MCU (screen), but the drive trains (motors and batteries) are bullet proof.

                                              https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-model-3-drivetrain-design-el…

                                              There are tonnes of super high mileage Teslas about these days.

                                              It's not a hard concept.

                                              • +1

                                                @[Deactivated]: I'm in South village and apart from east village in Sydney none of the major apartment complexes allow charging on the premises. Your answer can't be rent a house instead. It isn't as easy because people don't share the same circumstances. I like tesla cars (hate elon) and I want to buy but the infrastructure isn't currently in place yet

                                                • @Aqx666: I would question why someone who is renting would want to buy an expensive car. I guess it's all about priorities.

                              • @[Deactivated]: Can you do the same calculation for Townsville to mt ISA?

                                • @mdavant: Would you want to do that in anything other than a Landcruiser? But you're right, fringe case that is not possible in an EV on a fast charging network. You can get there, but it will take longer.

                                  • @[Deactivated]: Mate. I ain't going to that hole in anything.

                                    • @mdavant: Not even to visit Pat Rafter's childhood home?

                            • +4

                              @Danstar: It’s a bit unusual, but I agree with Burner. The vast majority of charging that a regular urban driver would do is overnight top ups. On those occasions you are road tripping on holidays, you plan your stops around charging at fast chargers. Eg meal time or when you are planning on spending 1/2hr out of the car anyway.

                              Not many drivers in regular urban driving do more than 200km in a day, the average is closer to 50km. Easily recharged at a standard PP, even every second day.

    • Buy first, research later

  • This is a similar approach used by most carmarkers developing EVs; eg. BMW i8, Benz EQC, Jaguar iPace, Ford Mach-E, Volvo Polestar, etc.
    They all funnelled development costs into making a new high-end model, then the profits or interest in that range will flow onto future, more affordable models. It also helps to reinforce the idea that EVs are great vehicles, but it's somewhat at odds with Elon's supposed goal of helping to decarbonise the planet — if he wasn't more interested in making huge profits and tax incentives, he would have made his first car more like a 21stC Beetle at a price within reach of every new carbuyer, ie. <$10,000. One day in the near future, with China and India having already a hundred different EV carmakers, we will see those kind of prices.

    • I feel your idea of the 21st Century Beetle looking anything other than what Tesla look like today is a bit dated. Tesla looks exactly like the result of wanting to please the would-be buyers of Beetles of today.

      Or were you referring to the size?

      • The concept of the beetle was ‘the people’s car’. Made cheap as possible while being practical. Think compact, economical (doesn’t need to be ultrafast), light on bells and whistles. Don’t need self driving, heated power seats all round or a whole bunch of stuff that’s in a Tesla.

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