Tesla cut the price of some Model 3 and Model Y versions in the U.S. after the company reported third-quarter deliveries that missed market expectations.
The starting price for the Model 3 is listed at $38,990 on Tesla’s website, down from $40,240 previously. The long range Model 3 fell from $47,240 to $45,990. And the Model 3 Performance fell to $50,990 from $53,240.
Tesla’s Model Y Performance sports utility vehicle now starts at $52,490, down from a previous price of $54,490.
Beginning at the end of last year, Tesla began cutting the prices of its cars across the world in a bid to stoke demand amid concerns over slowing consumer spending in markets like the U.S. and China and as competition in the electric vehicle space ramped up.
The people that care the most about the environment aren’t buying electric cars at all. That’s not the solution.
For most of us that’s the best solution we can do. I’ve already cut out all the waste I can, I grow my own vegetables, I’m getting rain barrels and compost for my garden, I tried to get solar but the cost was too prohibitive here, I have shopped non-plastic alternatives everywhere i can, I limit travel as much as I’m allowed, but I need to drive to work like most Americans. My government will not be expanding public transit, there’s no interest at the federal or state levels and my local level just throws up racist dogwhistles about crime spreading if they add trains or buses every time the public petitions for it.
An electric car is the best I can do, I won’t let perfect be the enemy of good.
In the US we live where options other than cars simply aren’t subsidized or funded meaningfully for transit. This means yeah people who have to survive are going to be buying cars if they need them.
Keeping one’s existing car if less than 20 years old, or buying a used efficient hybrid or used electric would both go further than buying a brand new electric. The typical capitalism throwaway wasteful lifestyle of the last century isn’t going to stop climate change, even if it has a cute green leaf icon on the dashboard.