What was your age, annual income, and what battery pack are you getting?

With Tesla attempting to reach the mass market by making an "affordable" $50k car that ranges up to greater than $100k, I think this topic is important in understanding buyers' demographics.

I know this topic may be semi-taboo, but that is the advantage of anonymity of the Internet. Without this poll, only Tesla would have this kind of data on its buyers.

Notes:
1) If you are a double income household, please choose based on combined annual income.
2) Please choose your income as it is before taxes.

Because only 10 choices are available for polling, I had to combine the 40 and 60 kWh battery packs together. Thank you for participating.

goyogi said:

I think 300k is high. I think 200k would be a better number. Unless you are thinking about two income household?

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I do agree with you that 300k is high. In fact I had originally put $250k but my reasoning for choosing 300k is that:
1) this is an expensive car and it would seem that more people would be higher than normal, hence the $300k
2) Although I'm over 300k with no debt, I feel moderately guilty buying a 100k car b/c thats just not me (my Prius works GREAT why do I need more???).(Answer of course is the long range and the tech factor of the Model S!). I need the income number to be as close to my income as possible without being too high so I can see how foolish I really am.
3) Please do count double income households. Sorry should have mentioned this. This probably skews things a bit, but that's alright.
4) Many forum participants also seem to have the Roadster...you must be over $300k if you're considering TWO Tesla vehicles right??

Today is the day!!!

I can't wait to see the reviews and the hype!

NigelM said:

What is the actual point of this poll?

There are already the following polls:

Model-S-Buyers-What-s-Your-Income
Model-S-Poll-on-battery-size
Model-S-Reservation-Holder-Demographics-Age

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1) I didn't know about those polls, but I did try to search first (obviously not hard enough).
2) However, more importantly, the above polls you mention do not put all the data together, thus it is impossible to determine the relationships b/t income, age, and battery size (i.e. how much you're spending) which gives important detail related to demand for Model S and whether or not the buyer is an "aspirational buyer," etc.

One problem/paradox that concerns me is the recent Bloomberg article. In this article, it was mentioned that after all the initial 10k reservation holders have made their purchase, where will the next 10k buyers come from? In other words, it seems logical that a vast majority of buyers who want the vehicle have already made their reservations leaving a big question about where the next buyers will come from.

The results of this new poll, however, may help to shed light on the above paradox. For example, if most people are $>300k and and buying the 85 kWh battery, then perhaps these same people have the money and would be willing to shell out for the Model X also - which is an important factor in keeping Tesla's long-term business plan afloat!

(I'm not sure if I would buy the Model X. only about 10-20% sure I'd buy it also. I LOVE the gull-wing doors though.)

NigelM said:

What is the actual point of this poll?

There are already the following polls:

Model-S-Buyers-What-s-Your-Income
Model-S-Poll-on-battery-size
Model-S-Reservation-Holder-Demographics-Age

Click to expand...

One other interesting thing to note as a result of this new poll is that practically no one who makes over $300k is opting for the lower two battery packs. i.e. If you make over $300k, you're more likely to buy the highest battery pack.

I'm in medicine, not business, so please take this into consideration as I comment on the "analysis" of the results of this new poll. In other words, I may be very wrong.

Teslawisher said:

Those next S reservations are going to come from those who are waiting to see and drive the car and don't necessarily have 5k to just part with without anything in return. Then, others will come from seeing the S in the wild and saying "what's that!?" and becoming interested. And lastly, from those reading all the publicized reviews that will begin popping up on TV, in magazines, etc.

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That is a good answer, and I do believe you are right. Or at least I hope so. After all, I had no idea Tesla was making this car had it not been for the Volt message boards when I was this close to buying a Volt. Finding out about Model S via a message board is quirky, but seeing one in real life on the street with a 17" screen is great free advertising. Will people buy?? I have to admit, much will depend on EU/Greece/Spain and a real slowdown in India, China that seems to be masked by the news on the EU front. The combination of it all however, including high US debt is a real obstacle b/c if both EU and China catch a cold, it is quite possible the whole world, including the US, gets a pneumonia.

Many of the business articles out there such as the Bloomberg article or the one in SeekingAlpha tend to have a slightly negative bias about the long-term viability of Tesla (or at least question its ability to survive long term).

Anyway, if Musk can doc a private spacecraft to the ISS and land the spacecraft safely, I'm sure they can pull this all off long-term provided the economy doesn't stumble. Tesla to me is a brand with serious cache, with a great product, but a high price tag.

NuclearPowered said:

I'm betting on quite a few people like this. Personally, I took what I was going to put down to reserve the S and stuck it in TSLA stock instead. It should pay for quite a bit more then the reservation price now.

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I bought TSLA for the first time Monday and sold on Wed already. I'm sure I sold WAY too soon.