Tesla lowers lease prices on the Model 3 and Model Y
Tesla
Tesla has revamped its leasing program to align with the swiftly changing electric vehicle landscape. Historically, consumers primarily purchased EVs outright, but the tide is turning. By June 2023, an impressive 22% of new EVs on the road were leased, showing a significant jump from 13% in June 2022. This shift highlights the growing allure of flexible ownership, particularly in the evolving EV market.
Year-End Incentives and Performance Targets
Tesla's recent overhaul of its leasing options seems tailored to cater to this rising interest in leasing. This strategic move taps into current market dynamics and positions Tesla to bolster its year-end performance.
The company's communication about the potential reduction of the $7,500 tax credit for the Model 3 to $3,750 by the end of the year could spur many to finalize their purchase or leasing decisions, aiding Tesla's Q4 figures — especially after the Q3 hiccups.
Making Tesla EVs More Accessible: The Revamped Lease Prices
For consumers on the fence about transitioning to an EV, Tesla's enticing lease rates could tip the scales:
Tesla Model 3 Lease
Model 3 Rear Wheel Drive: A drop from $419 to a tempting $329/month.
Model 3 Long Range: Now at $439/month, down from $509.
Model 3 Performance: An attractive $529/month reduction from $609.
Tesla Model Y Lease
Model Y Rear Wheel Drive: A slash from $499 to a competitive $399/month.
Model Y Long Range: A decrease from $549 to $469/month.
Model Y Performance: A revised rate of $539/month, down from $629.
These attractive prices are for a 36-month lease term, covering a yearly distance of up to 10,000 miles.
Influence on the Broader EV Marketplace
Tesla's dynamic pricing and leasing strategies, while aimed at broadening its consumer base, are also poised to impact the larger EV market. The EV leasing trend is gaining traction; other industry players are already experimenting with innovative solutions. For instance, Hyundai introduced a month-to-month EV "subscription" and offerings from startups like Autonomy, which provide monthly subscription models for a diverse range of EVs.
Tesla's refreshed leasing approach and timely communication regarding potential changes to tax credits reflect its commitment to staying ahead in a rapidly shifting market. As 2023 draws to a close, Tesla's moves indicate a strong desire to end the year on a high note - again.
Tesla has issued an OTA recall for the Cybertruck – unsurprisingly, one that has already been fixed for customer vehicles. We’ll expand on the recall a little later, but more importantly, the recall filing revealed that Tesla has now built and sold 27,185 Foundation-Series Cybertrucks for customers.
OTA Recall
The OTA recall – which was issued in update 2024.32.5.2 and above, covered an issue that could delay the rearview camera being displayed on the dashboard.
This would occur if the Cybertruck was powered on, and then quickly shifted to reverse. The rearview camera would not come up on screen within the prescribed 2-second timeframe.
According to the NHTSA filing, Tesla has already fixed this via the OTA update, and the rearview camera will now display within that 2-second timeframe as required going forward. This was another easy OTA fix for Tesla.
Not a Tesla App
27k Cybertrucks
The filing also revealed that Tesla has produced and delivered approximately 27 thousand Foundation-Series Cybertrucks through September 14th. Tesla has been producing the Cybertruck for approximately 11 months now, with the 12-month anniversary coming up on November 13th.
Elon Musk previously mentioned that Tesla intends to produce approximately 375,000 trucks per year to compete with the ICE pickup market. Today, Tesla produces 1.7 million Model 3 and Model Y vehicles per year, and about 80,000 Model S and Model X vehicles a year.
Overall, that 27 thousand over a year is only the start of production, and as Tesla expands and improves its production lines, we can expect that number to continue growing at a rapid pace. With the Foundation Series ending and Tesla opening up invites for reservation holders to configure their non-FS Cybertruck, that number is only expected to increase. The non-FS Cybertruck is priced at $79,990, $20k less than the Foundation Series. The Cybertruck will also become eligible for the Canadian iZEV Heavy EV Rebate.
This puts the Cybertruck in an excellent spot in the future—and it has already outsold its EV competitors in the same market. We’re looking forward to seeing how fast Tesla meets the upcoming demand for non-Foundation Series Cybertrucks.
Tesla has released software update 2024.38 to its employees for its last round of internal testing. We now have preliminary release notes for this update.
It looks like this update will be smaller and focus on two main changes. However, keep in mind that there could be additional features that may only apply to certain regions or vehicles that are not mentioned here.
The two features are the ability to use Spotify with a free Spotify account (still requiring Premium Connectivity), and improvements to the vehicle’s side mirror functions.
We’ve recently been able to confirm these changes with an employee.
Spotify
Since Premium Connectivity’s free Spotify Premium (for Europeans only) is going the way of the dodo, it looks like Tesla and Spotify will now allow you to log in to your Spotify account with a free account, at least in Europe and Australia. Tesla also recently announced that vehicles in North America that use the “Streaming” app will now be changed to a free version of Slacker that will include ads and other limitations.
If the ability to use Spotify for free is limited to Europe and Australia, where these users already had free access to Spotify Premium, then this isn’t a huge deal. However, if Tesla and Spotify now allow you to stream Spotify in your vehicle with a free account, that will be a huge win for many owners. The free version of Spotify has limited skips and includes ads. Other music services require you to have a premium or paid subscription before allowing you to stream in the vehicle. In either case, you’ll still need Tesla’s Premium Connectivity plan to stream music over the vehicle’s connection, or you could use your phone’s hotspot feature.
Side Mirrors
The side mirrors are finally getting some additional customization options with two improvements.
First, you will now be able to customize the side mirror’s tilt when reversing. By default, a Tesla’s side mirrors will angle downwards while reversing to provide a better perspective of what’s close to the edges of your vehicle, rather than your blind spots. You’ll now be able to customize the level of tilt when this happens. To adjust the tilt angle, go to Controls > Mirrors > Adjust Tilt Position.
This will help folks who are either taller or shorter than the norm – you’ll now be able to customize the angles to better suit you. It’s a simple update, but a much-appreciated one!
Next up for the side mirrors – you’ll be able to fold them in the quick menu. That’s the menu that pops up when you press and hold down the left scroll wheel. You’ll also be able to unfold them from the quick menu as well.
Other Updates
Similar to other recent updates, Tesla now has an Other Updates section where they list smaller features that don’t warrant their own release notes.
In this section, Tesla outlines four improvements, although only two are noteworthy. One of them is the ability to manually fold the side mirrors using the quick function that we talked about above and the other is improvements to the WiFi menu. The four points Tesla mentions in their release notes are:
- The Wi-Fi menu provides more information about your Wi-Fi connection as well as tips for improving your connection.
- Hold down the left scroll wheel and select Fold Mirrors to fold the mirrors in or out.
- This update contains important security fixes and improvements
- This version contains minor fixes and improvements
This update is expected to start rolling out to users in the next week or two, so it won’t take long now before we have the full release notes for this update available.
