Musk reveals top 5 trade-ins to buy Tesla Model 3

Model 3s are now rolling off the Tesla production line at more than 5,000 a week with no sign of slowing down, according to founder and CEO Elon Musk.

So it’s not so very surprising that a lot of people are taking advantage of the offer by the EV giant to trade in their old ICE cars – or even relatively new EVs – to get their hands on a new Tesla.

In case you didn’t already know, Tesla will take your old car as part of the purchase price, at least in the US, and the company’s second quarter earning call last week, Musk shared the top 5 trade-in cars in the US from January to July of this year.

Musk revealed the list along with Robin Ren, Tesla’s head of sales, who said the list was comprised of ‘mainstream midsized sedans’.

Heading the list of top 5 trade-ins is Toyota’s hybrid Prius, which kind of makes sense if you consider the Prius has been around almost 20 years now, albeit 17 years in the USA and some of those owners might just be ready to go 100% EV.

This is followed BMW 3 Series, Honda Accord, and Honda Civic, with the all-electric Nissan Leaf coming in at number 5.

It’s not made clear how many of the BMW 3 Series and Hondas were ICE or hybrid though, so it’s not exactly clear if those trading in are upgrading from gas guzzlers or trading up to all-electric. Possibly a bit of both.

What is interesting is that all of these models have a lower MSRP base price than the Model 3.

Musk also clarified the list with the caveat “non-Tesla”, meaning that there are also many people out there trading in their Model X ot Model S to get themselves a Model 3.

Sharing of the list was preceded by the news about sales for the quarter, with Musk claiming that “the Model 3 market share has surpassed all competitor premium midsized sedans combined.”

So, Model 3 market share is now a majority, in July, it was a majority of all premium sedans. That trend is, we think, likely to continue.”

With BMW 3 series sales on a downturn in the US, it seems the Model 3 is indeed taking its toll on at least some of its market competitors.

Trade-ins are also available through Tesla in Australia, with certain forums claiming that the trade-in amount is about that of a dealer trade-in ‘plus 20%’.