Just hours after delivering Tesla’s Q4 earnings call, Elon took to Twitter to announce new details about the upcoming Model 3. The low-cost, mass-market electric vehicle will be available for in-store reservations beginning on March 31st and online the following day. No Signature Series version will be available.
No signature series for Model 3. Same reservation amount for all.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 11, 2016
More details on Model 3 unveil in coming weeks. That's it for now.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 11, 2016
During yesterday’s press conference, Musk told the audience,
“Our default plan as we have done in the past is that the initial sales are relatively highly optioned versions of the car, because we’ve got to pay back the investment of the tooling and everything, so it makes sense to have the higher optioned versions first. That’s what we did with the S and obviously again with the X.”
Responding to a tweet from a potential customer, Elon replied that reservations for the Model 3 will be accepted from anywhere in the world, not just the United States.
Early reservation numbers do not necessarily guarantee early deliveries. In fact, according to Musk’s statement, the best way to get a Model 3 early may be to order it with every option available. The company strives to maximize efficiency throughout the manufacturing process. That includes building cars going to roughly the same location at the same time, regardless of when they were ordered.
Tesla has also confirmed the starting price of the Model 3 will be $35,000. That’s before any federal or state incentives that may apply.
The company announced yesterday during its Q4 earnings call that March 31 would be the date when the public gets its first look at the Model 3. Musk revealed that he and his team have not yet decided whether to show the car off fully on that date or play their cards close to the vest, holding back some details until closer to the actual start of production. Until then, the world will be waiting anxiously until March 31 to see what the company decides to do.
