The eagerly awaited Tesla Model 3 rolled off the production line last week, if you are one of the 400,000 that have been waiting to get your hands on it, you’re going to have to wait a little longer.
Even though the first full-production version of the car is finished, the public won’t be able to get their hands on it because it is going to the company CEO, Elon Musk’s garage.
The Tesla Model 3 is considered the company’s first mass produced car with an estimated 500,000 units expected to be available for sale in 2018. The 500,000 units dwarfs the 85,000 cars Tesla sold last year. What made this volume possible is the fact that the Model 3 has a much simpler design than its predecessors, the Model S and Model X.
The high demand for the Model 3 is also helped by the fact that it is expected to retail for $35,000.
A few weeks ago, Musk said 30 Model3s will be delivered at a launch event on July 28, with the first going to Ira Ehrenpreis, a Tesla board member and investor. Ehrenpreis also placed the first deposit for a Model 3.
Despite being in line to receive the first Model 3, Ehrenpreis decided to give the car to Must as his 46th birthday gift. Now, the first unit will go to Musk while Ehrenpreis will receive the second unit. The identities of the people that will receive the remaining 28 units has not yet been revealed, but we will surely see more of the Model 3 on the road by the end of the month.
Musk, who is active on social media, posted a picture of the car sitting outside Tesla’s Fremont factory, giving consumers their first look at the final version of the car.
Even though the Model 3 is expected to retail for about $35,000, Tesla hasn’t confirmed the exact price of the car. What we do know is that the car will give drivers about 215 miles on a single charge.
Musk also confirmed that the first version of the Model 3 will have very few options. He added that drivers will be able to enable the car’s auto-pilot functions. The all-wheel drive and bigger batteries that come in the Model S and Model X will become available when the car is up to production.
According to Musk, the Model 3 will be assembled at Tesla’s Fremont factory, but the batteries will come from the company’s Gigafactory, which is currently under production in Nevada. The company expects the two facilities to be able to handle the production of 500,000 cars per year starting in 2018.
