Last night at the Tesla Motors headquarters in Hawthorne, California, the company unveiled its highly anticipated vehicle—the Model 3.
At the unveiling, Haute 100 lister Elon Musk said the car will drive at least 215 miles per charge while starting at only $35,000 before incentives. While the Model 3 will be a more price-friendly Tesla vehicle, it will still compete with other luxury automobile makers. Other specifications include:
- Model 3 will be able to go from zero to 60 miles per hour in under six seconds
- It seats five comfortably (“Comfortably is the important part here,” Musk said)
- It is roomy enough to fit a 6’3″ driver and leave leg room for the 6′ passenger behind him, according to Charles Fleming.
- Model 3 features a five-star safety rating in all categories
- All Model 3 cars will include support for Tesla’s high-speed Supercharging network
- The Model 3 will come in both rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive versions
- There’s a 15-inch landscape touchscreen inside
- “More cargo capacity than any gasoline car of the same external dimensions,” Musk said.
Prior to the unveiling, Tesla began taking reservations for the new model. The cost of a reservation is approximately $1,000. The site reads, “Model 3 production is scheduled to begin in late 2017. When production begins, we will begin deliveries in North America starting on the West Coast, moving east. As we continue to ramp production, we will begin deliveries in Europe, APAC and right-hand drive markets. It is not possible to ship to all regions simultaneously because regulators in each part of the world have slightly different production requirements. Staggering deliveries in this way also allows us to provide the best possible customer experience.”
Thus far, the company has more than 130,000 preorders. Car enthusiast had camped out over night (Wednesday) to get a spot in line in order to preorder the highly anticipated vehicle.
You can watch the unveiling here.
Featured image via Tesla Motors
