First Tesla Model 3 off assembly line
CEO Elon Musk says the first 30 cars will be delivered July 28, with 100 more in August
The much-anticipated Tesla Model 3 is finally here, providing reason to rejoice for the thousands of fans who preordered cars.
The first finished, consumer-ready car came off the assembly line Saturday night, CEO Elon Musk announced in a tweet. The new model, which had a wait list nearly 400,000 people long last year, is Tesla’s attempt to build a cheaper electric car for the masses.
“Production unit 1 of Model 3 is now built and going through final checkout,” Musk tweeted. The post received more than 50,000 “likes.”
Silicon Valley has been eagerly awaiting the release of the new Model 3. The smaller electric car starts at a lower price point than Tesla’s earlier Model S — $35,000 for the Model 3, compared to the roughly $70,000 Model S.
Musk last week tweeted that he expected to complete the first Model 3 on Friday, which would have been two weeks ahead of the original schedule.
Tesla is set to hand over the keys of the first 30 Model 3 cars on July 28. The company plans to ramp up production at its Fremont factory after that, releasing 100 cars in August and more than 1,500 in September, Musk tweeted last week. By December, he expects to be releasing 20,000 Model 3 cars per month. That still will fall short of estimates Musk made to analysts in May 2016, when he said the factory would make between 100,000 and 200,000 Model 3 cars in the second half of 2017.
Customers who reserve a Tesla Model 3 today are expected to receive the car in mid 2018 or later, according to the company’s website.
The very first Model 3 out of the factory will join Musk’s own private collection. Whoever is first to pay full price for each new Tesla model gets the honor of owning the first car off the assembly line, Musk wrote in a tweet Saturday.
Ira Ehrenpreis, a Tesla board member and managing partner of DBL Partners, had dibs on the first Model 3, but gave those rights to Musk as a 46th birthday present, Musk tweeted.
It doesn’t appear to be a huge sacrifice for Ehrenpreis. He will get the second finished car, he tweeted.