People are expecting too much from the Tesla Model 3
Those who are wowed sometimes forget that Tesla is essentially a luxury carmaker selling its vehicles for around $100,000.
That's all about to change with the arrival of the $35,000 Model 3 - a mass-market car designed to delivering widespread electrified mobility at a very affordable price.
It will be a different kind of Tesla.
RBC Capital analysts Joseph Spak focused on this aspect of the vehicle in a research note published Friday:
Teslas have an aura of futurism around them that can cause people to expect more than they're getting from the cars, which are after all still automobiles, just ones that are powered by batteries and electric motors. Critically for the Model 3, which will sell for far less than either the S or the X, Tesla has to be able to mass-produce the vehicle without losing a ton of money on every car.
We really are talking about the Toyota of Teslas here, and although the Model 3, due to launch later this year, should be quite snazzy, it will also be the Tesla for the rest of us.
As customers realize this, they'll either recalibrate their expectations - or suffer disappointment.