Tesla Model 3 Case Study

Last week Elon Musk and Tesla made history with the unveiling of the Model 3 – a $35,000 all electric vehicle. Though the car won’t begin shipping to customers until late 2017, the announcement of the Model 3 marks an important milestone for Tesla and electric cars in general. In this post we’ll explore Tesla’s strategy and show how it is further evidence of the power of integrative innovation.

Tesla Model 3

On August 2, 2006, Elon Musk wrote the first Tesla blog post titled “The Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan (just between you and me).” In that post Musk clearly explained his strategic plan for Tesla.
He starts off by explaining the story behind Tesla, or the why.

The overarching purpose of Tesla Motors (and the reason I am funding the company) is to help expedite the move from a mine-and-burn hydrocarbon economy towards a solar electric economy, which I believe to be the primary, but not exclusive, sustainable solution. – Elon Musk

Buying Guide for the Model S

Tuesday I picked up my new Tesla. At least it was new to me.

In a fit of relative frugality I purchased a used version of the luxury electric Model S, which is part of Tesla’s new certified pre-owned program. I was convinced to go on a hunt for a used Model S after test-driving the car at a showroom in my hometown of Austin, Texas.

The certified pre-owned program lets you pick up older Tesla’s (TSLA, -0.79%) for about $20,000 to $30,000 less than the current generation model price tag. I’m not going to spend too much time going into Tesla’s CPO program, although if you want to investigate the market for used Teslas I recommend you start with the site EV-CPO Consolidator.