Tesla’s muchdelayed Model 3 to go on sale from Friday
Electric car maker Tesla says its keenly awaited Model 3 car for the masses will go on sale on Friday.
Chief executive officer Elon Musk made the announcement Monday on Twitter.
The car is to start around $35,000 and with a $7,500 federal electric car tax credit, could cost $27,500. Tesla says the five-seat car will be able to go 215 miles (133 kilometres) on a single charge and will be sporty, accelerating from zero to 60 miles per hour in under six seconds.
Musk had said that production was on track to start in July, but Tesla has often faced delays in getting vehicles to market.
The Palo Alto, Californiabased firm aims to make 5,000 Model 3 sedans per week by the end of this year and 10,000 per week in 2018.
Tesla hasn’t said how many people have put down $1,000 refundable deposits for the Model 3, but Musk has said people who put down a deposit now won’t get a car until the end of 2018, suggesting it could be close to 500,000.
Whether Tesla can meet its production goals is an open question. Its last new vehicle, the Model X SUV, was delayed nearly 18 months. Musk says the Model 3 is much simpler to make, but 14-year-old Tesla has no experience producing and selling vehicles in high volumes. Tesla made just 84,000 cars last year. Bigger rivals like General Motors, Volkswagen and Toyota routinely sell around 10 million vehicles per year.
Even if the Model 3 is on time, servicing all those vehicles will still be a challenge. Model S and Model X owners are already worried about having to share Tesla’s company-owned charging stations with an influx of new cars. And while Tesla is promising to raise its network of stores and service centres by 30% this year, it began 2017 with just 250 service centres worldwide. That leaves many potential owners miles from a service centre.
Musk has said a new fleet of mobile service trucks will be deployed to help customers who are far from service centres. Tesla also plans to double its global high-speed charging points to 10,000 by the end of this year and increase them by another 50 to 100% in 2018.