Shooter my son did no talk me into getting an EV. In 2019 when it became clear the ICE death spiral was getting underway . I found the 2016 Leaf SL for $13,500 after I got them knock $4,500 off of what they're asking price. It had 22K miles on it with a near dead battery that triggered the battery warranty 5 weeks after purchase. Nissan put in a larger new 2020 $12,500 traction battery pack that is holding up quiet nicely. It was the $14,000 price cut from Elon that closed that deal on the Tesla. 16 months later we kind of got the $7,500 rebate or whatever they call the sucker but not directly. We just applied it toward our taxes due on our social security which will cover some of 2024 SS tax bill. We are still working so delaying sign up by 8 years was doable in our case thankfully.
The $25K Tesla is still coming . The AI version of FSD working so well and getting better every two weeks has shocked the world leading China companies asking to license FSD.
If Tesla sells one $25,000 EV they will pocket about $5,000 but is if they will put one of that same car in the robo taxi fleet for 10 years then that same car may net $300,000. So you can see why the robot taxi unit has to be developed first. Assuming that the software will be ready to get it on the road, maybe even be ready by the end of this year. But anyway look for the 8/8/2024 show and tell for robo taxis.
From my personal experience with FSD for the past 14 months I think we're getting close but been thinking that ever since 2016.
Robo taxis stands to gut new ICE sales because the fare should be less than the expense to operate ones on ICE car, which means they will last longer and can be used for longer trips and just use the robot taxi for more and more of the daily trips. Is it is expected the larger cities will be the first place for the cab service to operate and then over time filter out into the smaller cities. There are over 10,000 Uber drivers in just the USA so that is an indication that this may work out well for Tesla and the public at large.
