23 percent of Tesla Model 3 reservations have been refunded, report claims

[Polycount]

Why it matters: Tesla has faced numerous issues with their mass-market Model 3 sedan since its debut in 2016. Much to the frustration of those who put a $1,000 deposit down on the vehicle, these problems are mainly a result of numerous production delays. Now, it might be possible to quantify that frustration: the Model 3's total refund percentage sat at 23 percent as of April, 2018.

The past year has not been the best time to be a Tesla fan. Not only has the company faced scrutiny over numerous Autopilot crashes, but it has had some serious issues with its Model 3 all-electric sedan.

These problems are primarily related to the vehicle's many production hiccups and delays. While Tesla hopes to improve production soon, it seems it's too little, too late for some Model 3 customers.

Since the mass-market vehicle's debut in 2016, Tesla has received hundreds of thousands of reservations for the Model 3. Data firm Second Measure (SM) now reports that a whopping 23 percent of those reservations had been refunded as of April, 2018.

While it's possible that this relatively high refund rate is merely a result of changing financial situations, it isn't likely.

After all, if that were true, you'd expect the overall cancellation percentage to be relatively low, or at least consistent over time. However, SM's reports show that the bulk of the Model 3's total refunds occurred very recently; between January and April of 2018, specifically.

This suggests that the Model 3's production delays have finally caused the patience of many customers to wear thin.

Additionally, SM's information only accounts for cancellations that have successfully been refunded. Customers who haven't received their refunds yet are not represented in the firm's report.

Regardless, Tesla hopes to produce around 5,000 vehicles per week this summer, so the company may be able to slow the refund rate soon as more Model 3s ship out to customers.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/74923-23-percent-tesla-model-3-reservations-have-refunded.html

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Wait, you mean consumers dont like waiting 2-3 years for a product that was promised to be in full production by the end of 2017?!?

COLOR ME SHOCKED.

Musk needs to learn his words have consequences. Venture Capitalists may lap up his words like a dog lapping up fresh....anything, but the customers buying his products are much more fickle. Tesla was dependent on some of that money to fund the development of the assembly line for the model 3. And the constant failures of autopilot are not helping the situation either.

 

[ddferrari]

Produce 5000 cars a week?? That seems... unlikely.

 

[GeforcerFX]

Produce 5000 cars a week?? That seems... unlikely.

If the kinks are worked out it seems to be pretty standard rate wise, Ford makes the same amount of cars per day when they are slow on production. 5000 a month is just 166 per day, if the line is flowing right that's easy.

 

[Badvok]

Oh please let this be the bell tolling for electric vehicles, unfortunately I doubt it is.

 

[DaveBG]

Produce 5000 cars a week?? That seems... unlikely.

There is one gigafactory that is not 100% operational and they already produce like 4000 a week. Once all 5 gigafactories are in full swing it will be unusual to see other brands on the streets.

 

[wiyosaya]

Oh please let this be the bell tolling for electric vehicles, unfortunately I doubt it is.

It may be the bell tolling for Tesla, and maybe for Musk as its leader. However, I doubt it is the bell tolling for electric cars in general made by real car makers. The real car makers are still a few years away from their electric models.

Are you in the petroleum industry or something? There is a lot of research going on and a lot of potential there for it to be far beyond what is currently in the market.

Have a look at these nuclear battery articles

https://newatlas.com/water-nuclear-battery-radiolysis/33844/
https://phys.org/news/2018-06-prototype-nuclear-battery-power.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_battery

But if you are really worried about a radiation hazard, there are significant enhancements to standard battery technology that are in the works, too. It is only a matter of time, where as petroleum based engines may well be near their peak efficiency. If car manufacturers switched to composite materials, petroleum based engines might just have more life in the market. But it is the standard auto industry refrain that is keeping composite materials from the automobile market - "It is too expensive."

 

[ddferrari]

There is one gigafactory that is not 100% operational and they already produce like 4000 a week. Once all 5 gigafactories are in full swing it will be unusual to see other brands on the streets.

Okay thank you. I didn't know that mfrs could possibly put out that many units per week! Then again, I've never really looked into it.

 

[captaincranky]

And most of you claimed I was just hating on Musk for no reason.All he seems to do is walk around, hat in hand, begging for deposits on stuff he can't come up with.

Maybe Anus Maximus should stick to huckstering his cigarette lighter / flamethrowers..

Oh wait, maybe I'm wrong, and these people took their deposits off the Teslas, so they could plunk it down on apartments in his mars colonies.

He's already "designed" himself a space suit for that....

(But I still think it was a diversion to take away from the fact that Tesla lost $250,000.000 that quarter).

 

[Badvok]

Are you in the petroleum industry or something?

Nope, just a petrolhead. Since we have the technology to create carbon-neutral petrol I'd rather the industry focused on that.