Here’s everything we know about the Tesla Model 3, including its underlying tech, features, and its claimed range of 250 miles per charge. Now that the Model 3 production line is back up and running at an accelerated rate, and there’s also a new Track Mode available to folks who buy the Performance model.
The Tesla Model 3 is one of the most anticipated vehicles of all time. The Californian company received nearly 400,000 pre-orders, worth upward of $10 billion, simply by showing off a close-to-production prototype. No other automaker has ever pulled off such a feat.
That’s because the all-electric Model 3 is what electric-car fans from all over the globe have been waiting for since the launch of the original Roadster — a Tesla designed and built for the masses. Production started ahead of schedule, and on July 28 of last year, Tesla delivered the first 30 cars during a special event at its headquarters. The Model 3 should already be crisscrossing the nation’s roads, but significant production problems have forced Tesla to delay high-volume production.
From its range and features to its price and launch date, here’s everything we know about it.
According to Electrek, Tesla has fallen behind its weekly goal of producing 6.000 Model 3s a week, but is still on track to meet its quarterly projections of 50,000 to 55,000 Model 3s for the third quarter of this year.
Electrek reports that Tesla produced about 4,300 Model 3s in the final week of August. Overall, the company has produced more than 34,700 Model 3s this quarter. Assuming the company manages to produce at least 4,300 Model 3s a week during the month of September, it would be able to meet its stated goals for this quarter. If the firm can ramp up production to 6,000 Model 3s a week then it could actually exceed its quarterly expectations.
If you’re debating between a Tesla and a BMW for your next car purchase, Elon Musk may have something up his sleeve that’ll turn you toward his car company. Tesla is apparently working on a new “track mode” that will let you exercise fuller control over the car without having any driver assist programs trying to “correct” your actions.
As Tesla describes it, “Select Track Mode to enable Tesla’s performance-oriented stability control and powertrain settings configured for track driving. This mode is designed to be used exclusively on closed courses. For the best experience, only progress to track mode once familiar with the track.”
In essence, it will allow you to do some neat Fast and Furious-esque tricks, like drifting and oversteering. In short, not something that you’ll want to do all the time, but a neat feature for car fanatics to have access to. You can check out what the feature looks like in the video below.
The days of waiting years on end for your Tesla appear to be slowly coming to a close. Now that the Model 3 production line is back up and running at an accelerated rate, new customers could get their cars in as little as a month. According to an update on Tesla’s website, if you’re interested in purchasing either the Long Range RWD or Performance dual-motor models, you’re only expected to wait one to three months for delivery. While that’s still not ultra-speedy, it’s considerably faster than the timelines prospective Tesla buyers had previously experienced.
Don’t get too excited about this, though — if you want a standard battery model, you’re still six to nine months away from getting your car. But all the same, Tesla’s decision to update its timeline suggests that it’s quickly taking care of its pre-order backlog, and is now able to focus on bringing in new customers.
Recently, founder Elon Musk said that Tesla is looking to up its production cadence to 6,000 Model 3s per week by next month.
Now that the production woes that have plagued the Tesla Model 3 for much of its short history seem to be largely in check, the company is beginning to rethink its previous marketing strategy, which CEO Elon Musk once said involved doing “everything we can to not sell the car.” Although this may have made sense a few months ago, the executive is likely changing his tune, and sources have told Electrek that Tesla is “starting to build” its test drive fleet across North America, and offering incentives to dealers that are selling the Model 3 in Performance trim.
Of course, Tesla has never been one for flashy marketing or ostentatious offers, and generally depends upon its stores and word of mouth to drive sales. However, this could be changing for the more accessible Model 3, which was meant to attract more buyers in the first place.
The entry-level Tesla Model 3 costs $35,000 before the $7,500 federal tax credit and local incentives are factored in. Buyers can pay extra for additional features such as a bigger battery pack (which is a $9,000 option), the Premium Upgrades package, Enhanced Autopilot, 19-inch wheels, and metallic paint colors.
The Tesla Model 3 is the company’s most important model because it will make or break the brand; getting it right the first time is crucial. Consequently, the first cars went to reservation holders who work at SpaceX or at Tesla. Musk expected his employees would be more tolerant of the issues that often plague new cars early on in the production run than customers coming from brands like Audi and Mercedes-Benz. With these sorted out, the company has started customer deliveries.
Tesla raised $1.2 billion to launch the Model 3 and it went to great lengths to avoid costly delays — it all looked good on paper, too, but things haven’t exactly gone as planned. Series production started on July 7 of 2017, and in a post on his personal Twitter account, Musk predicted about 1,500 would be assembled in September, and 20,000 in December. That meant many reservation holders wouldn’t get their car until 2018 at the earliest.
Unfortunately, however, that timeline has been delayed. Tesla made 2,025 examples of the Model 3 during the last week of March. Wired adds production totaled 9,766 examples during the first quarter of 2018, which averages out to about 800 cars per week. Bloomberg made a Model 3 tracker that provides production information.
However, Tesla has finally ramped up production to 3,500 units per week, and now, we’re getting a look at how it managed to increase production numbers. Tesla apparently created a so-called “tent,” another building that contains yet another general assembly line. They’ve effectively doubled the processes in order to ramp up production and meet their 5,000 unit per week target. Apparently, the temporary building was constructed in just two weeks, and the assembly line was created “using scrap we had in the warehouses,” Musk said. “And it’s way better than the other GA (general assembly) line that cost hundreds of millions!” the CEO added on Twitter.
Still, Tesla has some major bottlenecks to address before hitting its previously stated goal of 5,000 Model 3s per week. Musk recently wrote an email to employees noting that a number of areas in the company are in need of “radical improvements.” He also noted, “I will be at our Fremont factory almost 24/7 for the next several days checking in with those groups to make sure they have as many resources as they can handle.”
What happened? According to Tesla, prepping and operating some initial systems took longer than anticipated, creating a bottleneck. Sources told The Wall Street Journal many of the Model 3’s parts were being built by hand because the assembly line was not ready, while insiders pointed to difficulties with battery pack production in the company’s Nevada Gigafactory.
