Tesla Price Cuts Across The Board

[sacramentoelectric]

You don't think the model Y ground clearance of 6.6" is going to be a deal breaker for a lot of Rivian R1S buyers?

You might be surprised. Many if not most R1S drivers will never leave pavement. I showed my wife the R1S but if I told her she could get a Model Y for $40k less, there's no question she'd take the Y. She'd take Superchargers and Autopilot over ground clearance and third row room ten times out of ten. We have an X and if we had to replace it, it would still be a hard sell for me to convince her to take an R1S at $94k over a new X at $110k. Our X has been bulletproof and she loves it. Even at the higher initial price point, I doubt the total cost of ownership of the X would be very different over five years compared to the R1S. There's no looming specter of bankruptcy with Tesla that will weigh on long term resale values.

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[ShrinkDoc]

I surprisingly got the email on 12/29 that my R1T was ready. I had a 2020 Long Range Model Y with almost 30K miles on it that I was trading in. The offers I got from Vroom, Carvana, KBB Instant Cash, and direct trade to Rivian ranged from 34-38K. I was just planning on going with the direct trade to Rivian for convenience but decided to get it appraised at CarMax as one last attempt for a better offer. They actually offered me 44K, which I took. I sold it to them last week. Seeing this recent price change makes me realize how lucky I was with the timing of my R1T and the trade in of my MYLR. Due to qualifying for the $7500 tax credit now, you can pretty much get a brand new MYLR for only a couple thousand more than what I just sold my Y to CarMax for last week. Sold mine just in time!

Not so lucky here. Still waiting on delivery and watching the trade-in value on my 2020 MY plummet. It was bad enough before the price drop, but looks very bleak now. Amazed you got that much from Carmax. I was seeing similar numbers from the online sites -- don't even want to know what they are offering now. At this point, very possible we just hold on to our Tesla for my wife since we are soon to be in need of another car anyway with a third driver in our family.

 

[R1T in SC]

Not so lucky here. Still waiting on delivery and watching the trade-in value on my 2020 MY plummet. It was bad enough before the price drop, but looks very bleak now. Amazed you got that much from Carmax. I was seeing similar numbers from the online sites -- don't even want to know what they are offering now. At this point, very possible we just hold on to our Tesla for my wife since we are soon to be in need of another car anyway with a third driver in our family.

Yeah I was absolutely shocked at the offer. I've sold one car to Carmax before and gotten quotes for two others and they've never been the highest offer between the other companies I mentioned. When I got that offer, combined with the tax credit I'd quality for, and the pre-hike price, I really couldn't pass up the opportunity. Hope you figure things out and end up with your R1T. It's a fantastic vehicle!

 

[Madsen203]

Acceleration boost software upgrade takes the long range model Y from 4.8 to 4.3. Never heard 3.7 unless it’s a performance model. And yea brembos are gone though the calipers are apparently 2mm thicker on the performance model.
https://electrek.co/2020/09/25/tesla-launches-acceleration-boost-upgrade-model-y/

3.7 AB is the number for M3 long range.

 

[sacramentoelectric]

I'm surprised nobody has brought up how these price reductions might impact the EV truck landscape when the Cybertruck eventually debuts. There's every reason to expect these cuts to figure into Cybertruck pricing. Putting Musk's toxic antics aside for the moment (barf,) the Cybertruck is going to eventually ship. It might (probably) not be until 2024 or at the price they initially announced but it will ship and at a price that I think will surprise a lot of people. I have friends at Tesla working on it and from what I gather, the design is laser focused on cost. Not painting the thing alone saves thousands of dollars off the cost to build and should significantly increase build rate. I don't know how many people will cross shop between the R1T and Cybertruck (I would) but I can't imagine a scenario where the Cybertruck doesn't substantially undercut the Rivian on price. Maybe that doesn't matter much but it certainly won't help move Rivians. For example, how would you feel if the Cybertruck debuted at $59k with dual motors, 330mi range, and 500kw charging (you will need to shut your eyes for this comparison)? This is a Rivian enthusiast forum so I know many of us would gladly pay $20k more for a dual motor R1T for the looks alone but not everyone will. Rivian has to survive on the R1 platform until 2026 and I sure hope they have plans to update it before then or it will be awful long in the tooth if they're still selling it when the Cybertruck, Ram EV, Lighting V2, and Silverado EV are all available. The big boys are coming.

 

[Inkedsphynx]

Given how polarizing the design of the CT is, and given there are millions of people in ICE trucks now in the US that will want an EV truck now or in the future, I am not concerned with CT's impact on Rivian. They're different beasts and will speak to different crowds.

Factor in Elon's recent... choices... and I am not at all concerned about Rivian wrt the CT.

 

[RivianXpress]

We bought a mid-range rear wheel drive model 3 in 2018. Base price was $35k. Had to pay additional 5K for enhanced autopilot and I think the mid-range was an additional 7K. I think the red added another 2.5K. We did get that tax credit. Very happy we did it back then. Not a single issue with the car.

I paid $5K for Enhanced autopilot when I purchased my M3 LR in October 2018. Since then the prices have fluctuated. At one point you couldn't even buy the Enhanced, then they lowered it to $4K I think, then added it back on the menu. It's been a $6K add on for at least the last year if I remember correctly

 

[NY_Rob]

I'm surprised nobody has brought up how these price reductions might impact the EV truck landscape when the Cybertruck eventually debuts. There's every reason to expect these cuts to figure into Cybertruck pricing.

I did mention exactly that yesterday in post # 56....

If you think that move was tricky... wait till you see CT pricing later this year. They full well know their competitors offerings and pricing and will 100% plan on undercutting their prices and with more features included (boat mode option with 20" propeller extra ) at the base price.

 

[NY_Rob]

I'm surprised nobody has brought up how these price reductions might impact the EV truck landscape when the Cybertruck eventually debuts. There's every reason to expect these cuts to figure into Cybertruck pricing. Putting Musk's toxic antics aside for the moment (barf,) the Cybertruck is going to eventually ship. It might (probably) not be until 2024 or at the price they initially announced but it will ship and at a price that I think will surprise a lot of people. I have friends at Tesla working on it and from what I gather, the design is laser focused on cost. Not painting the thing alone saves thousands of dollars off the cost to build and should significantly increase build rate. I don't know how many people will cross shop between the R1T and Cybertruck (I would) but I can't imagine a scenario where the Cybertruck doesn't substantially undercut the Rivian on price. Maybe that doesn't matter much but it certainly won't help move Rivians. For example, how would you feel if the Cybertruck debuted at $59k with dual motors, 330mi range, and 500kw charging (you will need to shut your eyes for this comparison)? This is a Rivian enthusiast forum so I know many of us would gladly pay $20k more for a dual motor R1T for the looks alone but not everyone will. Rivian has to survive on the R1 platform until 2026 and I sure hope they have plans to update it before then or it will be awful long in the tooth if they're still selling it when the Cybertruck, Ram EV, Lighting V2, and Silverado EV are all available. The big boys are coming.

Agree with you 100%.
Tesla has just proven that they can indeed go back to 2020 pricing and they know how to lean manufacture already where Rivian has spent way too much $$$ mass producing what's basically a prototype vehicle. I'm taking a wait and see stance on the CT at this point but I'm excited about it's features. My reservation is on the tri-motor version which I still think will undercut the quad motor R1T pricing ... but it will have an all stainless steel body, over 400mi range, 1,000 Volt charging, rear wheel steering along with a working powered tonneau cover and of course access to the Tesla SC and Service Center network.

 

[Canthoney]

My wife and I just test drove a Model X LR just for the heck of it, and it had some cool features, but I was underwhelmed. It felt old, even with the refresh. Also, the advisor was rushing us, didn’t explain anything and gave us only 15 mins with the car, so I was turned off by the customer service.

On the drive there was interior rattling, whistling, and loud distinctive motor whine on the test drive. It was fast, had good range, but the long term reliability turns me off, but initial impressions were not that good.

I really hope they still plan on opening their supercharging network though.

 

[fbitz777]

The government is really going to have to kick the can on implementing the IRA, as written, as it gives such a huge benefit to Tesla vs anybody else currently

Oh but then for the last two+ years Tesla and GM did NOT get tax credits and every other brand did! Now it's reversed and not Tesla's doing.

 

[CrazyOne]

Agree with you 100%.
Tesla has just proven that they can indeed go back to 2020 pricing and they know how to lean manufacture already where Rivian has spent way too much $$$ mass producing what's basically a prototype vehicle. I'm taking a wait and see stance on the CT at this point but I'm excited about it's features. My reservation is on the tri-motor version which I still think will undercut the quad motor R1T pricing ... but it will have an all stainless steel body, over 400mi range, 1,000 Volt charging, rear wheel steering along with a working powered tonneau cover and of course access to the Tesla SC and Service Center network.

And coast to coast hands free driving!

 

[NY_Rob]

And coast to coast hands free driving!

Of course you noticed that feature was conspicuously absent from my feature list because I'm not drinking that particular flavor of Tesla kool-aid. Tesla does a lot of things well, but Vision Only FSD isn't one of them and I don't think any hardware they've ever had is up to the task.

Now, if you want to discuss using the CT as a boat... I'm all ears because I sometimes worry about slipping off the slimy boat ramp at low tide with our current SUV...

 

[riviansmoke]

The price reductions definitely will have an effect on the market. I can’t stand EM and have put off buying anything from Tesla, but with the new pricing and available tax credit it does make it difficult to pull the trigger on an R1 especially at post-March pricing. I’m hoping there’s downward pressure on pricing as options flood the market and the impending downturn. I’m curious to see how things play out for Rivian once all the pre-March orders are fulfilled. They really need to hang on until they get the R2 platform going. They could see a pullback on orders once people’s names start getting called with a majority of pricing coming in at $90k+. I’m still hopeful I can get something in the $70’s to qualify for the tax credit. Time will tell.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

You are right. Think of the money we could save if no state could receive any federal money that exceeded what that state's residents pay in federal taxes. Let those states stand on their own two feet.

I have no problem with that, but it doesn’t go near far enough. Federal spending needs to be cut across the board. Let’s have a flat tax so everyone pays their “fair share”

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