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Tesla to drop the 85kWh battery packs from the line

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The point I was trying to make was in regards to the value of the vehicle. It does significantly change the desired make and options a buyer will be looking for, new or used. This will directly impact the value of the option being replaced.
 
Wait a minute.

Since 2012, there have been so many feature introductions, including parking sensors, Autopilot, AWD, and so forth. Now that the 85 kWh battery is discontinued, now you're talking about obsolescence?
 
I could see the 60 and 85 packs being used for the Model 3. If the Model 3 is starting at $35K then a 60, but a range extension upgrade gets you a 85kk for $10K more.
Model 3 Base - 60Kw - $35K
Model 3 Upgrade/Fully Loaded - 85Kw - $55K
Model S Base - 70Kw - $65K
Model S Upgrade/Fully Loaded - 90Kw - $100K

gives you a good range (price and distance) for both models.
 
I could see the 60 and 85 packs being used for the Model 3. If the Model 3 is starting at $35K then a 60, but a range extension upgrade gets you a 85kk for $10K more.
Model 3 Base - 60Kw - $35K
Model 3 Upgrade/Fully Loaded - 85Kw - $55K
Model S Base - 70Kw - $65K
Model S Upgrade/Fully Loaded - 90Kw - $100K

gives you a good range (price and distance) for both models.

But the Model 3 is a smaller car, the existing 60 & 85 packs wouldn't work in the Model 3 anyway. So what they'll do is optimize the pack sizes for Model 3, and it wouldn't surprise me to see something like 55 & 80.
 
removing the 85 pack from the line hardly makes the car obsolete!
The Model S has been continually changing since it was introduced, this is just another incremental change.

Looking at it the other way - your car was obsolete the moment it rolled of the line and again when you bought it.
It grows more and more obsolete as each day passes.
But so does every other car out there :)
 
They discouraged upgrading your existing model S to a 90 at the announcement. too minor a step, they said.

Some owners here in Germany inquired nonetheless and got a quote of 29k Euros. The 85 battery is returned for which you would get 2k - scrap value, basically. No wonder no one took up on the offer.
 
Not happy about this news. Now our 85's will be obsolete. I would hope that there will be an upgrade plan in the works for current 85 owners.

The point I was trying to make was in regards to the value of the vehicle. It does significantly change the desired make and options a buyer will be looking for, new or used. This will directly impact the value of the option being replaced.

removing the 85 pack from the line hardly makes the car obsolete!
The Model S has been continually changing since it was introduced, this is just another incremental change.

Looking at it the other way - your car was obsolete the moment it rolled of the line and again when you bought it.
It grows more and more obsolete as each day passes.
But so does every other car out there :)

Buying a car is a consumer expense not a investment or asset. When you want a loan at the bank and say you have a $100k car, the bank puts it on record, but amounts to jacks**t unless they start looking at repossessing.
 
Buying a car is a consumer expense not a investment or asset. When you want a loan at the bank and say you have a $100k car, the bank puts it on record, but amounts to jacks**t unless they start looking at repossessing.

Or insurance replacement value, which they shaft you there as well...

Cars are the worst "investment" you can make. The only way that ever works to your favor is if you *happen* to buy a unique enough car that people desperately want in 20 years and can't find it, then... taking inflation into account, it *may* return back value to you and be worth something... but you would get FAAAAR better returns throwing that money into literally anything else.
 
Re-discontinuing the 85 and its impact, as of right now, the value proposition hasn't actually changed. They are still charging you the 3k upgrade price from the 85 to the 90. Your 85 won't truly lose obsolesce value until they drop the price of the 90. Then, you can complain about it... and by that point it will have been gone for a while.

Consider, the 90 was only first available 7 months ago. They have dropped the 85 from the picture now, and I wouldn't be surprised to see the price drop within another 3-5 months. If you are going to complain at that point about something that happened initially almost 1 year ago then I don't know what you want? I was told since I was a very young lad that the worst hit is driving the car off the lot, which is why growing up my parents refused to ever buy new. If you hold the car for just 3 years, at that point the major depreciation hits are gone and the depreciation should hold pretty reasonable from there. After 5 years you tend to hit the really sweet spot to trade in if you are concerned about value retention (hence why everyone always compares cost of ownership over a 5 year period) while still being able to upgrade in reasonable intervals. And with software updates (and some hardware purchase upgrades... 4G, Pack Upgrade, etc) it helps keep your car relevant better over that 5 year period.

Of course this is all coming from someone who couldn't hold out and upgraded after less than 2 years of ownership... but I knew what I was getting in to, and that I was going to have to eat the cost of the early upgrade. But look at the holding value of 2012s and now 2013s and you will see things have mostly flat-lined on depreciation. By the end of 2016 you should get a really great picture of what a non-sig 4 year old car (with all of Tesla's crazy upgrades to the car over the 4 years) actually does to the value of the car. My guess? A P85 that was new ~105k will show around 50-60k still after 4 years. holding 50% value is *really good* for the high end luxury after 4 years.
 
The point I was trying to make was in regards to the value of the vehicle. It does significantly change the desired make and options a buyer will be looking for, new or used. This will directly impact the value of the option being replaced.

Improvements reduce value of older vehicles. But since the 90D doesn't seem to Supercharge much faster, and since Tesla's still using the cells in the 70 pack, I don't think it's a big deal.
 
Re-discontinuing the 85 and its impact, as of right now, the value proposition hasn't actually changed. They are still charging you the 3k upgrade price from the 85 to the 90. Your 85 won't truly lose obsolesce value until they drop the price of the 90. Then, you can complain about it... and by that point it will have been gone for a while.

Consider, the 90 was only first available 7 months ago. They have dropped the 85 from the picture now, and I wouldn't be surprised to see the price drop within another 3-5 months.
This is exactly the pattern for major hardware upgrades which I recommended to Tesla after the consternation over the release of the "Autopilot hardware" models. :) Keeps people happy enough. Also uses up the old parts stock.

If you are going to complain at that point about something that happened initially almost 1 year ago then I don't know what you want? I was told since I was a very young lad that the worst hit is driving the car off the lot, which is why growing up my parents refused to ever buy new.
Yeah -- I actually will probably buy a used car after this car starts conking out. This was not actually an option when I was ordering the car *a year before the first one was manufactured* and when there were literally no other long-range EVs on the market. But when I finally sell this one I'll probably get a used BEV.