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Tesla's latest electric machine, the BMW 3-series and Jaguar XE-rivalling Model 3, has the potential to be a 'game changer' but faces a number of problems that must be addressed, according to car valuation experts Glass's.
While Glass's head of valuations Rupert Pontin notes how the Model 3's 200-mile range and estimated £35,000 price tag have encouraged hundreds of thousands of people to put down deposits, he questions whether Tesla has the capacity to deliver such a high number of models and maintain its free rapid-charging network.
"This is an EV that looks on paper as though it can go face to face with the conventional BMW 3-series and Audi A4 and convert customers immediately," stated Pontin.
"However, there are a whole host of questions. This is a car manufacturer that has so far only brought very low numbers of cars into the UK, that has only a tiny dealer infrastructure and, if we suddenly do see tens or hundreds of thousands of Model 3s appearing on our roads, probably an insufficient charging structure," he continued.
Despite strong initial demand, Pontin also questioned how the used market will respond, with the market normally being relatively conservative in its acceptance of new technology: "Used buyers may be wary of issues such as battery life and even parts availability, bearing in mind that their nearest franchise dealer is probably some distance away."
With residual values being a key contributor to fleet whole life costs, such factors will be critical in determining how successful the Model 3 is when it arrives in UK fleets.
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