Tesla's profit margins – or rather, its constant losses – have been the subject of countless column inches, but no-one has done the maths on what a Model 3 actually costs to build.
That is, no one had until WirtschaftsWoche broke down four Model 3s in what Elon Musk described as the "best analysis of Model 3 to date".
The result? The engineering team behind the teardown estimated a Model 3 costs around US$28,000 ($36,670) to build, of which US$18,000 ($23,573) accounts for materials and US$10,000 ($13,096) for manufacturing costs.
According to the teardown, the Panasonic battery cells are made up of just 2.8 per cent cobalt, down from around 8 per cent in earlier iterations. That's going to help lower production costs, amid sky-high worldwide cobalt costs, and represents significant progress over the cells used in the first Model S.
The initial report suggests Tesla will be able to turn a healthy profit if it can build 10,000 cars per week. At the moment, the company is struggling to meet a 5000 cars per week target.
Despite this fact, Musk said it's definitely possible to build 10,000 cars per week for $28,000. We'll have to wait and see on that one.
Along with the teardown, this week has revealed more detail about the number of reservations Tesla has for its 'affordable' electric car. Reports from Second Measure suggest 23 per cent of initial deposits have been refunded, as production delays and high average delivery prices have taken their toll on people waiting for the US$35,000 ($45,837) EV promised at launch.
Second Measure, by the way, is a company that analyses anonymised credit and debit card purchases.
The majority of refunds occurred after Tesla announced more production delays in April. It's worth bearing in mind, those who had their deposit refunded are able to make another deposit or order once the production schedule becomes clearer.
Australia, meanwhile, has to wait until right-hand drive production commences – scheduled for mid-2019 – meaning the Model 3 won't make its way Down Under until at least late in 2019.
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