Tesla Model 3 Well Ahead Of Schedule; First Car Will Be Completed Friday
With all the previous talk about how Tesla will never make their targeted start date for the production of the Model 3, it comes as quite a shock when Elon Musk announced that not only are they on schedule, but the Model 3 production seems to be well ahead of schedule.
According to a tweet, the first Model 3 should be completed by Friday:
Model 3 passed all regulatory requirements for production two weeks ahead of schedule. Expecting to complete SN1 on Friday
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 3, 2017
Well, color me surprised.
In addition to the start date for production, the first 30 people who had pre-ordered a Model 3 will be invited to an exclusive “handover party:”
Handover party for first 30 customer Model 3's on the 28th! Production grows exponentially, so Aug should be 100 cars and Sept above 1500.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 3, 2017
One of the biggest criticisms of Musk’s Model 3 plans has been the targeted number of 500,000 units sold per year, but another tweet reveals that Tesla just may reach those lofty numbers:
Looks like we can reach 20,000 Model 3 cars per month in Dec
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 3, 2017
With the Model 3 priced as the “everyman” alternative to the luxury-priced Models S and X, Tesla is looking to make a huge dent in the EV market with an “affordable” Tesla car (though “affordable” can be argued since $35,000 is still not necessarily a cheap car).
With the competition heating up (Chevy Bolt, BMW electric 3 series, Audi EV, Polestar EV), Tesla can stand gain much by being the first to offer a mass market EV with decent range (215 miles for the Model 3).
400,000 people have put in pre-orders for the Model 3 (myself included), so the question of where we are on the waiting list is still up in the air. Regardless, Musk made good on his promise of a July start date for the production of the Model 3, so at this point, it’s simply a countdown!
