Tesla had built a handful of Model 3 cars in July and production is expected to be ramped up to 10,000 units per week by the end of 2018. The first batch of the Tesla Model 3 cars will be handed over to customers today by Tesla CEO Elon Musk at the company’s factory in Fremont, California. Tesla has already accepted over 5 lakh bookings for the Model 3 and it will take a few months before the cars are delivered to remaining customers. By the end of 2018, the company expects to increase production to 5,00,000 units.
Yesterday evening, Elon Musk unveiled the $35,000 (Rs 22.45 lakhs) Model 3 outside the Fremont factory. The vehicle claims to have a driving range of 220 miles (350 kms) on a full charge. Tesla is also offering a long-range version which is priced at $44,000 (Rs 28.23 lakh) and capable of covering 310 miles (500 kms). The cars get a streamlined dashboard without any buttons or knobs and the functions can be accessed via a touchstream display to the right of the driver. Customers pay $1,000 (Rs 64,155) refundable deposits for the car, which is eligible for tax credits. However, any new buyer booking the Model 3 will not get one before the end of 2018.
Tesla Model 3 cars will be rear-wheel drive for now and will be focused on larger and longer-range batteries. The body of the vehicle is part steel and part aluminum. Moreover, the battery pack in the vehicle has only three modules instead of the 16 modules offered in the Model S. Speaking about the vehicle, Elon Musk said, “There’s nothing in the Model 3 that doesn’t need to be there. Everything in there has a compelling reason to be there.”
