It’s been quite a buildup. Now, with the first models promised for July 28, we take a look at assorted facts and figures about Tesla’s first mass-market ($35,000) car.
July 28: Mark it down, Tesla fans.
That’s the day the electric-car maker will hand over the keys to the owners of the first 100 or so (non-prototype) Model 3s, Tesla’s latest, greatest and lowest-priced automobile yet.
For a car that’s not yet officially on the street, there’s a ton of stuff we already know about this bad boy. Here’s some of it:
The Model 3’s Release Will Go From Drip to Deluge
In a late-night tweet on Sunday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said there should be about 100 cars released in August. Then, it’s blast off! Musk predicts more than 1,500 more will roll off of the Fremont assembly line in September with output increasing steadily until workers are cranking out 20,000 a month by December. Those numbers will help pad the record-high 76,000 vehicles — Models S and X — built in Fremont in 2016.
They’ ll Be “Cheap” – But Not Cheap at Twice the Price
Yes, priced at a starting point of $35,000 the Model 3 will seem like a steal compared with Tesla’s first product, the luxurious Roadster that went for $100,000. And that price point should make the Model 3 exceedingly popular with a driving public that would love to go electric but do so without breaking the bank. (Land a federal tax credit and it’s yours for $27,500) . But $35,000 still ain’ t chump change for most car buyers, so only time will tell how successful Tesla is in Musk’s campaign to enter the mass market and change the way people get around.
Want a Model 3? Get in Line
Since it began taking $1,000 reservations in March 2016, Tesla has amassed at last count a total of 373,000 wannabe owners on its wait list. You can order your own here and Tesla says delivery, depending on when you got on the list, could be mid-2018 or later. Once the cars start coming off the assembly line, deliveries in North American will start on the West Coast and gradually move east. Eventually, cars will ship to Europe, the Asia-Pacific market and right-hand drive markets the world over. Sorry: you’ re limited to two per person.
It’s All in the Eye of the Beholder
So what will it look like? Car and Driver says the Model 3 bears a resemblance to its older siblings. “From the side and back, the sedan Model 3 looks like a Model S with a very tall roof and a bobbed nose and tail. Up front, it has a blunt upturned snout that evokes the original Tesla Roadster as well as the new, sealed-up prow of the Model X. It is genetically linked to all of its ancestors—both in the styling and in the many pounds of lithium-ion batteries packed into the floor (also, all but the Roadster have front and rear trunks) . It owes a heavy debt to the other cars in Tesla’s lineup.”
Here’s What the Model 3 Sounds Like
For its promotional video, Tesla featured “Aerodynamic, ” the frisky instrumental track by Daft Punk:
What’s Musk Say About It?
The CEO is most appreciative not just to those who have put in a reservation for the long-awaited Model 3 but to all those customers who bought previous Tesla models. “For all of you who bought an S or an X, thank you for helping pay for the Model 3, ” said Tesla chief Elon Musk, referring to the Model 3 as the culmination of Tesla’s “secret master plan” to bring the world non-polluting, all-electric self-driving transportation on a mass scale.“With any new technology, it takes multiple iterations and economies of scale before you can make it affordable.” A mass-market car, he said, “was only possible to do . after going through the prior steps.”
So Are The July 28 Cars Really the First Model 3s Out There?
Not really. In early 2016, soon after Tesla started its Model 3 release candidate program, people here and abroad started to report Model 3 sightings on a daily basis. At first, as Electrek reported, people mistakenly took them for the Model X. Gradually, though, the release candidates started popping up all over the planet, though most were spotted close to Tesla’s Palo Also headquarters.
And Did Somebody say “Federal Tax Credit?”
Yes. As a Teslarati columnist explained it, if you act quickly you may quality for a $7,500 tax credit. A couple of catches: first, you must have a tax burden of at least $7,500; second, you must take ownership of a Model 3 before Tesla rolls out its 200,000th electric vehicle in the United States. That number could come sooner than many originally expected, but essentially, “buyers who take delivery of their Teslas within roughly the first year-and-a-half of the company hitting its 200,000th electric vehicle delivery in the U. S. will be eligible for the tax credit. The closer to the 200,000th delivery date, the larger the credit.”
