
Tesla Model 3 becomes best-selling car in Switzerland - reddotX
https://electrek.co/2019/04/09/tesla-model-3-best-selling-car-period-switzerland/
======
leejo
Anecdata from someone living in a small Swiss village (c. 1,500 residents
outside the ski season):

\- I see a handful of Teslas around the village. I would guesstimate 5 local
residents own them.

\- The local taxi firm has a couple even.

\- Filling stations on the autoroutes have the charging points (at least in
Romandy)

\- The country is small so, hey, it seems ideal

I'd like to get one but it doesn't fit my use case (namely long road trips in
the summer).

~~~
trca
I have a Model 3 and have gone on multiple long-distance road trips (>1,000
mile) with it. It's an absolute pleasure to drive with AutoPilot. Plus, most
people already stop every 3-4 hours for bathroom/food breaks anyway, so if you
use the in-car nav system (Google Maps), it will make it so those stops are at
superchargers. The supercharger stops are almost always in high-density places
with plenty of restaurants and usually are ~30minutes which I've found is the
perfect time to do all the bathroom/food purchases you would need for the next
leg of the trip. Plus with Supercharger V3 rolling out in the next few months,
those stops will shrink to just 15 minutes for 80% battery.

~~~
tzs
Are there any problem on long trips if it is to some event that is drawing a
lot of people?

A couple years ago, when I was planning a trip to the middle of some rural
area to see a total solar eclipse, I checkout out of curiosity what the
electric charger situation was to see what the trip would be like in an EV.

At the time the Tesla network was sparse enough in that area that you'd need
to get pretty full charges to make it from charger to charger. After the
eclipse you'd have everyone leaving at about the same time, and so arriving at
chargers at about the same time, and so it seemed you might get some long
lines.

30 minutes to charge isn't bad if you can plug the car in and go eat or use
the bathroom while it charges. But if you have to wait for two or three cars
ahead of you do their 30 minute charges, can you do something while you wait
or do you have to stick with your car to move it up whenever the line moves?

In situations like this regular gas stations also can have lines, but usually
you can drive a bit away from the main highway and find a less busy gas
station.

~~~
bacon_waffle
> But if you have to wait for two or three cars ahead of you do their 30
> minute charges, can you do something while you wait or do you have to stick
> with your car to move it up whenever the line moves?

This seems like an ideal use for self driving technology - park at the tail
end of the queue and your car moves itself forward.

~~~
magnetic
Once you move to the front of the queue, you need this to happen too:

[https://youtu.be/uMM0lRfX6YI](https://youtu.be/uMM0lRfX6YI)

~~~
Reason077
You can always have an attendant plugging and unplugging the cars (at the
busiest stations where queuing is necessary), until that technology is ready.

Some gas stations still have pump attendants, after all!

------
gpjanik
I hate how Tesla advertises Model 3 as a 35k$ car. In Germany, the cheapest,
bare bone version of it is around 60 000 (53k euro). At this price point, it
doesn't make much sense, it's just better to get a car like Merc E Class.

~~~
wil421
Tesla’s price is $35k but your country adds hefty taxes. I was in Germany last
year talking about a 5 series rental my coworker upgraded to. I was pretty
shocked when they said it was over €100k. I pulled up the same car for about
$60k at my local dealer in the states and that price is before bargaining.
Pick it up in Munich and you can save 5%.

Companies in the US don’t post prices including taxes in almost all cases.

~~~
rad_gruchalski
> I was pretty shocked when they said it was over €100k. I pulled up the same
> car for about $60k at my local dealer in the states and that price is before
> bargaining.

I don’t believe you. The only stock 5 series over €100k is the M5 Limousine
(€119k). All other models are well below €100k, unless they come with options
/ BMW Individual. 550d Touring xDrive is €82k base price (with taxes).

I’m looking at a 2019 530d M package with full option and that thing would
cost me €82k, after discounts comes as low as €60k (trade in).

What you say with $60k is probably something like 520i base option before
taxes (knowing US).

So, I don’t believe that story.

~~~
whycombagator
Just for your reference, it appears the 520i is not offered in the US. The
base model would be the 530i. It doesn't seem like a 530d or a 550d are
offered in the US...but for some kind of comparison:

with little effort I was able to find a 2019 540i xDrive with the M sport
package for $53k on cargurus. Factor in taxes and its $57k. Factor in that I
haven't even bothered to check autotrader or shop around emailing/calling
dealers as I would do if I was interested in purchasing one.

Yes you can't get that deal everywhere and it might not be typical. But it's
there

For $60k you can certainly get a lot more BMW than a 520i in the US

~~~
rad_gruchalski
Ah, I see, you are talking about a second hand car. All the numbers I included
in my replies refer to a brand new car delivered to order. For a reference, I
just visited a US configurator. A brand new 540i M package is exactly $62550
and the configurator says: "MSRP excludes destination & handling fee of $995,
tax, title, license, and registration."

Sorry, but a brand new car will be much more expensive then in the US than in
Germany.

~~~
whycombagator
I think you are again confused. It’s a brand new car. The MSRP is over 60k,
but MSRP != selling price.

Perhaps it’s common to pay MSRP in Germany, but if you’re paying MSRP in the
US for a non special vehicle you’re doing it wrong.

> Sorry, but a brand new car will be much more expensive then in the US than
> in Germany.

You’ve provided no evidence to suggest this is the case.

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jak92
I'd like a tesla but not comfortable with their data policy. If tesla provides
a way to opt out I may consider a base model 3 in the future.

~~~
addflip
I own a BMW i3 and the Tesla Model 3. Both have cellular connections and are
constantly pinging their motherships. At least on the Tesla I have the option
of opting out. No such ability is available on the BMW.

~~~
jak92
> __No such ability is available on the BMW. __

Does the CEO of BMW tweet that it 's your fault after you wreck your car?

~~~
mlindner
No. But the CEO of Tesla doesn't do that either.

(They can't tell the reason for the crash remotely, they extract the data
directly, in person, with physical access to the car.)

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dmode
There are a lot of conversations about road trips in a Tesla. I have a Model S
and have done a few. I honestly believe that is indeed an increased hassle to
stop for Supercharging every few hours. I have done it a few times, and these
days mostly take my ICE vehicle for long road trips. But, having said, my long
road trips (> 250miles) are once in every 3-4 months. And my daily driving is,
well, daily. And this where Tesla blows everything else out of the water.
Convenience of Autopilot, Home charging, carpool access, a 21st century UI,
constantly improving features. 100x better than my ICE vehicle, and I will
choose Tesla every time, even with the drawbacks of long road trips.

~~~
woah
Would it be possible to put a gasoline generator in the trunk (vented of
course) and wire it into the charging system to increase the range?

~~~
bitcoinmoney
As long as it emits pure sine wave. There’s forum posts everywhere talking
about this.

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reilly3000
Non-Tesla owner here with some questions:

\- are there ever times when there aren’t enough charging stations free due to
other Teslas tying them up?

\- do you find yourself chatting with fellow Tesla owners while charging?

\- are the superchargers free to use?

~~~
hcal
\- are there ever times when there aren’t enough charging stations free due to
other Teslas tying them up?

It happens. I use them maybe once a month for the last year and I've only had
to wait once. It cost me 10 minutes or so. If you're unlucky you might live
near a particularly crowded supercharge and have longer waits. I think the
vast majority of owners charge at home 90+% of the time.

\- do you find yourself chatting with fellow Tesla owners while charging? Some
people hang around their cars while they charge but I tend to grab a coffee or
do some shopping. The chargers are usually near at least a coffee shop if not
an entire mall. With the exception of the occasional long trip, I'm usually
not staying long.

-are the superchargers free to use For some people. My model 3 didn't come with free supercharging but a lot of the chargers are sponsored by the local mall (I've seen a few tourist centers with free charging too). The only time I've paid it cost about $6 for a roughly 75% charge (200 to 240 miles).

~~~
colejohnson66
> The chargers are usually near at least a coffee shop if not an entire mall.
> With the exception of the occasional long trip, I'm usually not staying
> long.

What happens when the car is fully charged and the owner doesn’t come out for
hours?

~~~
philmcc
Not sure if it's still true, but recently I was in a rented Model X, and the
encouraged you not to do this by -charging- owners for over-charging, even if
they have unlimited charging.

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Aaronmacaron
This article is plain wrong. The original NZZ (Neue Zürcher Zeitung) article,
which is linked in this article, says nowhere that the Tesla Model 3 was the
best selling car in March. The Model 3 was only the fourth best selling car in
March. You can find the original data here:
[https://www.auto.swiss/statistiken/autoverkaeufe-nach-
modell...](https://www.auto.swiss/statistiken/autoverkaeufe-nach-modellen/)

According to the data the Škoda Octavia was sold nearly two times as much as
the Model 3. It must be said, however, that the Model 3 is the best-selling
electric car.

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_Codemonkeyism
TLDR

All the Tesla 3 preorders arrived [1][2] in Switzerland in one month, putting
the Tesla sales of usually one year (~1500) into one month, making it the
"best-selling"[3] car in Switzerland ahead of Skoda and VW (for the month of
March).

[1] one with a bit more knowledge than me can probably find the ship and the
shipment.

[2] see comments on that article from users getting theirs with that shipment

[3] have probably been sold months earlier, better worded "most-delivered"

~~~
lazyjones
Not true.

The first Model 3 arrived in Switzerland in the 3rd week of February
(2019-02-16). Tesla already sold 316 in February 2019 (+754% YoY).

How much of an exceptional month March will be for the year, we'll see after
the April data is released. The number of preorders for Model 3 in Switzerland
should be easily 1 order of magnitude higher than what they delivered in
March.

~~~
short_sells_poo
> Tesla already sold 316 in February 2019 (+754% YoY).

I'm sure that's not your intention but please don't quote % numbers like this
because it is extremely misleading and has zero indicative value. Going from
selling one car to selling 100 is a 10000% increase. Is that a meaningful
figure? No. All it does is inflate the percieved growth and makes the post
look biased and suspect of having an agenda.

Values that are useful in such a context is the number of cars sold from other
makers in the same segment or the growth of new models from other brands.

------
jeffrallen
There's a charger under my window and I can confirm that it is in heavy use by
many different EPFL employees.

------
azhenley
Any insight on whether this will make up for the falling Q1 sales in the US?

~~~
kissickas
This was the case in March, meaning it was within the Q1 release (and
obviously didn't make up for the drop in the US). Actually, the long lead time
to get shipments to Europe may be what caused a lot of the drop in the US - Q1
was the first chance for shipments to Europe after Tesla's Q4 was mostly
focused on getting Model 3s out across the US. The "other Europe" region still
hasn't gotten any shipments, as far as I'm aware.

Personally I'm of the view that there is no drop in demand for the cars, just
Q4 last year demonstrated the massive backlog they had in orders. When (if?)
$35,000 cars actually start shipping, we'll start to see what actual sustained
demand looks like.

~~~
jsight
I agree with you for the most part. The Q4 results had guidance indicating
that Q1 would end with ~10K vehicles in transit at the end. That is exactly
the result.

There were two surprises, though. They also guided flat shipments of X and S,
when in reality they cut them in half. Also, they appeared to be indicating
that Model 3 production would increase slowly over the quarter, but in reality
they kept it flat. Both of those were negative surprises to varying degrees.

But, of course, we now know that S and X are likely to be revised soon. It is
possible that the drop there was related.

------
mensetmanusman
Not sure why it isn’t mentioned more, but the main selling point is safety. A
tesla’s weight distribution is safer than any ICE could possibly be.

------
Animats
How much of the battery capacity goes to the heater?

~~~
dabeeeenster
In the UK in winter (around 0 deg C) having the heating on shaves off about 5%
of range in my Nissan Leaf.

------
madengr
Interesting that Switzerland has $57k per capita income vs $54k in the USA,
but the model 3 is probably 2x the cost of the US best selling car.

I assume the variance in Switzerland income is allot smaller than the US, thus
more residents can afford the car.

~~~
IkmoIkmo
As discussed in this thread, they delivered 1 year of pre-orders in a single
month, thereby topping the charts. It remains to be seen what sales figures
will be like the next few months. This may just be another case of bad
statistics.

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DanCarvajal
Can we stop with the Electrek spam?

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readhn
i was flying through zurich recently. McDonalds big mac, fries and soda were
$20 (!!!).

Is everyone there pretty much a millionaire?

~~~
bluetidepro
Does that comparison work in that context, though? I've seen a lot of
traditionally "cheap US fast-food" be expensive overseas in many countries. I
imagine because there is almost a tourist aspect to it, unlike when it's here
in the US. Is there a Swiss version of what they consider cheap fast-food, and
is that place still $20 for a basic meal?

~~~
matt4077
McDonald's is used as a pretty good proxy for local prices and buying power
around the globe. There's even the Big Mac Index
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac_Index](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac_Index)).

~~~
readhn
exactly. McD is a good proxy for overall cost of living.

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sschueller
Out of those 1,094, 9 are already on AutoScout24 for sale starting at CHF 64k.

[1] [https://www.autoscout24.ch/de/autos/tesla--
model-3?make=391&...](https://www.autoscout24.ch/de/autos/tesla--
model-3?make=391&model=2864&vehtyp=10)

~~~
lazyjones
For comparison, 186 Audi e-tron are listed there:
[https://www.autoscout24.de/lst/audi/e-tron?sort=standard&des...](https://www.autoscout24.de/lst/audi/e-tron?sort=standard&desc=0&ustate=N%2CU&cy=D&atype=C)
\- with total sales in Germany being 571 in March.

Audi, just like other german car makers are well known for making their
dealers purchase cars for inflated statistics (
[https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tageszulassung](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tageszulassung)
).

------
OrgNet
Why? Do they have to buy electric cars in Switzerland (aka: gasoline cars are
banned)? Or maybe everyone just have that extra money to blow? Or maybe they
get large incentives from the Government? In the US it would take something
like 15 years to pay for the difference between a Honda Civic and a Tesla
Model-3 (both cars are about the same size)

~~~
mft_
Nope - no such ban.

It's probably a combination of pent-up demand, Switzerland being (generally)
affluent, and having a reasonably environmentally-friendly culture.

~~~
OrgNet
Do the corporations also care about the enviroment in Switzerland?

