Tesla says it’s ready to serve the masses
Model 3 electric cars pass final tests
NEW YORK — The first Tesla Model 3 electric car for the masses should come off the assembly line Friday with the first deliveries in late July, CEO Elon Musk said.
Musk, in several Twitter messages early yesterday, said the new car passed all government regulatory requirements for production to begin two weeks ahead of schedule. The company plans to hold a party to hand over the first 30 Model 3s to customers July 28, Musk wrote in a tweet.
The Model 3 is to start around $35,000 and with a $7,500 federal electric car tax credit, could cost $27,500. Tesla said the five-seat car will be able to go 215 miles on a single charge and will be sporty, accelerating from zero to 60 miles per hour in less than six seconds.
Musk tweeted that the company expects to produce 100 cars in August and more than 1,500 in September. “Looks like we can reach 20,000 Model 3 cars per month in December,” he wrote.
That figure is less than previous estimates. Musk earlier had said Tesla would make 10,000 Model 3s per week by December.
Tesla also said yesterday that it delivered about 22,000 vehicles in the second quarter, bringing first-half deliveries to about 47,100.
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.
Tesla’s last new vehicle, the Model X SUV, was delayed nearly 18 months. Musk said 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 about 10 million vehicles per year.
Until recently, Tesla owned the market for fully electric vehicles that can go 200 miles or more on a charge. But GM beat Tesla to the mass market with the Chevrolet Bolt, a $36,000 car that goes 238 miles or more on a charge.