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Tesla IR Confirms Model S Options, Pricing, etc. "on track before before year end"

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Great News! There was concern on the corp. forum if we would have to wait until Model X Unveil on Feb. 9th for Model S Options, Pricing, and Design Center update. I emailed TSLA Investor Relations to find out:

"IR ✆ [email protected] 8:38 PM (3 hours ago) to me

We are still on track to have all this available before year end.

Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2011 5:24 PM
To: IR
Subject: Investor Question About Model S Options Announcement Date

Hi!

I'm a TSLA stockholder from Fremont, CA, and I've also reserved a Model S (# 4,491).

My question is when does Tesla plan to announce Model S options and pricing? Elon has been quoted saying before the end of 2011, which is almost over. Surely, if you're able to announce the Model X will be unveiled Feb. 9th, you must know when Model S options and pricing will be announced?

Many reservation and stockholders have been wondering about this as we get closer to the holidays. If you have a date, that would be great to give them confidence everything is proceeding as they expect.

They are also asking when the rest of the Model S options will be added to the "Design Center" on the website.

Thanks in advance!
"

I only removed my full name and email from the exchange above. I don't think it will be announced immediately before/after holidays, so probable dates are: 12/16, 12/19-22, 12/27-29. We'll just have to wait and see. I guess they are still finalizing something, so can't give us a date yet like they can for Model X Unveil on Thursday, Feb. 9th, 2012. My best guess is Thursday, Dec. 22nd, the first day of winter as someone pointed out. I can't wait!!! :biggrin:
 
I really feel for the Europeans. On top of the Euro falling apart, not only do you have to wait longer for your car, but you have to wait for totally new options and pricing to be announced at some future undetermined date.

Yep, glad I'm not you! At least you have decent health care, right?
 
Tesla had some troubles with their systems yesterday when I made my reservation online which caused a double-charge on my credit card (yes, for $5,000 twice... and at this time of the year... Ouch!!!) and that prompted them to call me today. While I was on the phone, I asked two questions (the questions and answers are based on memory and are not exact wording):

1. With my reservation number (6275), would my vehicle be delivered sometime in early 2013? Yes, that is probably the best estimate at this time. As we begin production and get further along, we would be able to provide increasingly accurate estimates on delivery date

2. When do you think you will have the rest of the options in the designer on the website? We are very close. We are on track to release that information by the end of the year. That is one of the more anticipated pieces of information and we get asked about that a lot.

I can't really capture the tone of voice he used or the pauses when he was looking for words, but my bet would be within a business week (before Christmas Eve).
I've also been having troubles posting to the forums ever since I reserved and they're working on sorting that out now (that and the CC issue teaches me a lesson for for reserving, huh).
 
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My best guess is Thursday, Dec. 22nd, the first day of winter as someone pointed out.

TSLA is meeting with a small group of sell-side Wall Street analysts on that day to review progress on the Model X and share some general information on the Model X (although no pictures will be released).

I am guessing with SEC Regulation FD (Full Disclosure) that they will also have to post that information on their website (maybe there will even be a tab for the Model X now).

This would seem like the logical time to also release the details on the Model S.
 
Good Point WhiteKnight. I also think 22nd -- an additional reas is because it's probably one of the last days not automatically given off as a holiday before Christmas by most companies. Someone has to make the announcement and turn those options on in the design studio, lol.

Doug, thanks for fixing the italics on my last post. I had originally written it for a thread on the TM forum, but my account is still broken and I can't post there so I copied and pasted it and forgot I had added formatting tags.
 
1. With my reservation number (6275), would my vehicle be delivered sometime in early 2013? Yes, that is probably the best estimate at this time. As we begin production and get further along, we would be able to provide increasingly accurate estimates on delivery date
I've been toying with the idea of reserving an S as a replacement for my Leaf (lease is due in Feb '14). If early '13 is what you are getting for reserving now, may be I don't really need to reserve to get on in '14.

Ofcourse, given that ALL ev production is slower than anticipated - it is quite likely that Tesla will produce far fewer S's in 2012. That would probably push early 2013 to mid 2013. So, may be I should reserve one, afterall.
 
I've been toying with the idea of reserving an S as a replacement for my Leaf (lease is due in Feb '14). If early '13 is what you are getting for reserving now, may be I don't really need to reserve to get on in '14.
Once Tesla gets up to speed with production, I'd imagine your wait from ordering wouldn't be more than a few months. You could always e-mail Tesla asking them if you can put money down for a Feb. 2014 production car.
 
Of course, given that ALL ev production is slower than anticipated - it is quite likely that Tesla will produce far fewer S's in 2012. That would probably push early 2013 to mid 2013. So, may be I should reserve one, afterall.

Tesla states on their website that reservation holders will have a one-time option to delay delivery of their Model S. So if you reserve one now and it's arrival is sooner than you want you can delay delivery until you do want it. That might help to make sure you receive it close to when your lease expires.
 
Ev-production is not slower! There is not enough capacity to produce!
That is a big difference!
When I say EV production is slower - I'm saying the ramp up to target capacity has been very slow. Even major OEMs like Nissan & GM have ramped up slower than their own estimates. Also, the start of the delivery date has always slipped. Even though some (like Nissan) made token deliveries on target introduction month.

I was browsing the book "Jolt" yesterday, written in 2010. It lists a bunch of upcoming vehicles - all of them have now got delayed (including S, PIP, Fisker, Coda, BYD, Focus EV). Leaf & Volt ran into ramp up issues, though they managed to get a few units delivered in Dec '10.
 
Tesla states on their website that reservation holders will have a one-time option to delay delivery of their Model S. So if you reserve one now and it's arrival is sooner than you want you can delay delivery until you do want it. That might help to make sure you receive it close to when your lease expires.
Thanks for the info. Next week when the S comes to nearby Tesla store I can make a decision. I still feel it is too large for us, barely fitting into my 20x20 garage.
 
I'm betting that it may well be staggered so that Sig Reservation holders get to look first. Otherwise, there's a risk that 5,000 reservation holders will all go to the design studio at once and cause a site crash.

I'm also betting Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.....the marketing opportunity is too good to let go isn't it?
 
I believe Tesla should get this information out before the North American International Auto Show. It will be the best marketing opportunity to display the complete car with options, pricing, etc. to the entire automotive community. Just a thought...
 
I'm betting that it may well be staggered so that Sig Reservation holders get to look first. Otherwise, there's a risk that 5,000 reservation holders will all go to the design studio at once and cause a site crash.

I'm also betting Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.....the marketing opportunity is too good to let go isn't it?

If 5,000 people over the course of a day causes their site to crash, they've got some work to do in that department. Granted they're small, but I bet they get a couple thousand people to their site daily at the very least. Probably much more.


*edit* their alexa graph shows they likely get around 80-100k visitors per day (using their rank and comparing to sites that I do know the traffic of).