Tesla just dropped its EV prices. Here's why...
Does Tesla’s miraculous price drop make it a hero in the electric vehicle fanboy community? Almost certainly. Did the media swallowed it? Clearly. Here’s the truth about this desperate new-year cost cutting exercise…
Tesla has just slashed pricing here in Australia, and by slashed I mean dropped prices by approximately metric bee’s dick.
The big question is whether this a desperation move. Let us have a deep dive into the desperation scenario. Because as you may know, I am not above criticizing some of the spooky/kooky things said and done from time to time by the Messiah (Techno King himself >>).
It’s due to this quaint, some would say old-timey, view I have that indefensible gibberish really does need to be called out for what it is if we want society to improve in the time domain. And I'm a person who really does want that.
Taking the Model 3 base poverty pack as an example, pricing for Tesla has been turbulent, every since that vehicle launched in July of 2019, or whenever it was. The pricing there kicked off at $66,000 initially, and then it rose as high as $73,900, and fell back as low as $59,900, with lots of up and down noise in between. That's in the space of just three and a half years.
Last week's price cuts saw prices fall to $63,900, considering the base model rear-wheel drive povo pack. That's $2100 lower than it was at the launch three and a half years ago.
But I'd suggest that although the media is foaming at the mouth over these recent price cuts by Tesla, it's not some heroic feat.
It's really just another random (profitable) movement, in particular regarding Model 3 pricing, of which in three and a half years there have been nine price movements: five increases and four drops. They really have, at this point, roughly cancelled each other out, basically.
The Model Y is the same kind of story, but on an admittedly more compressed timeline. That vehicle was launched in June of 2022 for $68,900 - that's the base poverty rear-wheel drive variant. It had a 4.9 per cent increase one week after the launch, which kind of screams ‘we didn't sort out that very well’.
But then, roughly six months later, which would be last week, there was a 4.7 per cent drop which caused prices essentially to return to where they were when the vehicle was launched. And for their performance all-wheel drive version of the Model Y, the pricing followed essentially the same trajectory. Neutral buoyancy has been returned, in other words.
According to data released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, the Canberra-based Toyota barrow-pushers at the FCAI declared 60 percent of all EVs sold in this country are Teslas, roughly. This happened at about the same time as Tesla prices dropped.
What this sales statistic means, if you didn't pay attention in school, is that six out of every 10 EVs sold currently, wears the Techno King’s badge. But worryingly for Tesla, there is certainly more competition inbound and imminent.
Just in case you’re starting to imagine the roads covered in Teslas, here’s why the plan of 1 million EVs by 2027 is bullshit >>
I mean, BYD and MG are doing a good job together mounting something of an offensive from the cheap seats and that's got to sway some people who are thinking about buying, for example, the cheapest Model 3 they can get their grubby mitts on.
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In summary, I'd suggest that the recent Tesla price drop is not a nose-jerk reaction to the imminent e-bomb of China coming out and upsetting the apple cart. But there is going to be more competition into the future that is potentially good for you if you're on the fence about an EV.
I am actually happy to see Tesla apparently price-protecting people who they've locked in at a higher price who are waiting for these cars, and making them available at that lower price.
Not expecting that, were you? Don’t get used to it.
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