Model 3 says, “Hello”.
Why do you think Tesla is selling so many car (nearly a million EVs sold last year)?
And, depending on China to help them produce anything, vehicles and batteries, is pretty foolish, given the international relations that are very confrontational lately, and won't be getting any better in, perhaps forever.
Where do you think all the high numbers of Teslas sold in Europe come from?
Shanghai China.
Tesla is #1 EV seller in Europe just from importing Teslas from the Tesla Gigafactory in Shanghai.
And that is even before the huge new Tesla Gigafactory in Berlin starts producing.
The entry level model 3 starts at around $45,000. Not exactly an everyday consumer vehicle. And then, if you want any options included, it will likely end up costing upwards of $55,000. I know, I’ve checked.
So, the Model 3 may say ‘hello’, but the consumer will say ‘bye’.
And, it’s still a vehicle with not much better than a 300 mile range, and ‘refueling’ times of a few hours. Still not an everyday consumer vehicle.
And, the European market is not the same as the U.S. market, where people haven’t had to pay the much higher prices of fuel that the Europeans have paid for a long time now.
And, China is still the country that is public enemy #1 for all kinds of imports, and getting a lot worse by the minute. Once people insist that the government push for all manufacturing to occur in the U.S., ‘bye-bye China’ and ‘bye-bye Teslas from China’.
China is NOT our friend, and anybody or any company that depends heavily in China as the producing company for any product, will end up losing mightily.
And, from what I’ve read, the battery gigafactory production is more fantasy than a reality, especially since the battery technology hasn’t really progressed much in the last 10 years, no matter how much hype one reads or hears in the media. In fact, I’ve read that even Tesla is rethinking the battery technology and the gigafactory idea.