Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Cars
  3. News

BMW courting Tesla Model 3 customers with ‘Wait or Drive’ ads

By
Add as a preferred source on Google

BMW isn’t pulling punches in its efforts to appeal to Tesla Model 3 reservation holders. Two recent television commercials specifically address people who are waiting till at least 2017 to take delivery of their new Teslas, as reported in Green Car Reports. The common message of the two ads is, why keep waiting for a Model 3 when you can buy a BMW 330e today?

It’s safe to say the rush of pre-orders for the Tesla Model 3 was a wake-up call for many in the automotive industry, including Tesla itself. With 373,000 refundable deposits on hand, the last number confirmed by the company, Tesla has ramped up its production schedule and is doubling the size of its Fremont, California factory.

Recommended Videos

Other carmakers have now seen that, based on the volume of orders for an all-electric car with a per charge range of over 200 miles and a starting price tag in the mid $30s, there’s a market today for such cars. The Model 3 won’t start to deliver to the earliest reservation holders until late 2017, and that’s if the company hits all its aggressive production deadlines.

Many conventional auto industry commenters say Tesla’s plans are too ambitious and deliveries might be delayed even as long as two years. Of course, Tesla itself is anything but conventional, but by the end of the decade, the consensus is most major car companies will have all-electric cars priced at or near the current $33,666 average new car cost, though they are not there yet.

Waiting

BMW does have an all-electric car for sale now, the BMW i3, which starts at $42,400 and has a range of 80 to 114 miles per charge. The two BMW commercials, however, show the BMW 330e plug-in hybrid, a car that has a 17-mile electric-only range and a $43,700 starting price. So neither of the Beemer alternatives in the Tesla-focused ads have anything near the Model 3’s promised range or starting price … but they are available now.

The voiceover for one of BMW’s television ads says in a droning voice that, “You will wait, and wait, and wait some more, all before that electric-car company’s new model ever even arrives.” It will be interesting to see if the BMWs ads are effective. and the best measure of that may be if they continue for more than just a month or two.

Bruce Brown
Bruce Brown
Former Contributing Editor
Bruce Brown Contributing Editor   As a Contributing Editor to the Auto teams at Digital Trends and TheManual.com, Bruce…
Topics
Order an Uber and a self-driving Mustang might show up
Electronics, Phone, Mobile Phone

Ordering an Uber in London could come with a surprise today. Instead of a conventional car and driver pulling up, you might find a Ford Mustang Mach-E that can drive itself. Uber has launched London's first public robotaxi service in partnership with British autonomous driving company Wayve. The service is available through the Uber app, meaning you don't need to download anything new or book a special type of ride to try it.

There is one important caveat. Although the cars will handle the driving themselves, a trained safety operator will initially sit behind the wheel, ready to intervene if necessary. Fully driverless rides are planned for a later stage. The launch fleet consists of electric Mustang Mach-Es equipped with cameras, radar, and Wayve's AI Driver technology. These systems give the vehicle a 360-degree view of what's happening around it. And if anywhere can put that technology through its paces, London seems like a pretty good candidate.

Read more
Range Rover Electric arrives with 543hp, 600km range, and a starting price of the moon
The electric Range Rover is here, and your wallet may need CPR
Range Rover EV

The Range Rover has never been shy about luxury, size or price, and its first fully electric version is carrying that tradition into the EV era. Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) first battery-electric Range Rover is now open for orders, starting at £154,070, or about $208,420. That makes it one of the most expensive electric SUVs on the market.

The electric model costs almost £50,000 more than the standard combustion-engine Range Rover. It is priced in the same territory as the electric Mercedes-Benz G 580 and not far from ultra-luxury gasoline SUVs such as the Bentley Bentayga.

Read more
A solar ambulance has successfully tackled 500 miles of difficult terrain
Stella Juva

For years, solar-powered vehicles have largely lived in the world of prototypes, university projects and ambitious demonstrations. Now, one has completed the kind of test that matters far more than a flashy concept reveal: it drove hundreds of miles through difficult terrain while carrying medical equipment and generating enough electricity to operate independently.

Called Stella Juva, the vehicle was developed by Solar Team Eindhoven, a group of 23 students from Eindhoven University of Technology and two other educational institutions. According to a CNN report, the team describes it as the world's first solar ambulance. Unlike a conventional ambulance, however, Stella Juva is designed less to rush patients to hospitals and more to bring medical care to people who cannot easily reach it.

Read more