Musk’s Twitter barrage reveals more car details
NEW YORK• Tesla Motors Inc. doesn’t really do traditional press releases. Instead, when chief executive Elon Musk has something to say, he often relies on Twitter for a few 140- character revelations.
Following the unveiling last week of his new Model 3 electric car—which attracted almost 300,000 deposits from customers around the world — Musk tweeted 68 times, talking about features ranging from the car’s instrument panel to its hubcap design, and plans for high-speed supercharger networks in Europe and Asia.
We already knew a lot about the US$ 35,000 Model 3, but here’s what we learned from Musk this weekend:
GET READY FOR A
SPACESHIP
The prototype Model 3 that Musk revealed Thursday had a surprisingly sparse driverside dashboard. In fact, there was no dashboard at all, just a slightly oblong steering wheel and a 15-inch horizontal touch screen that controls just about everything.
“Why did you choose that hideous steering- wheel design?” someone asked Musk on Twitter.
Musk responded: “That’s not the real steering system.” In a separate exchange, he suggested the final Model 3 may feel more like something from SpaceX, one of his other companies, tweeting: “Elon Musk @ elonmusk@ HBL- Cosmin Wait until you see the real steering controls and system for the 3. It feels like a spaceship.”
The unveiling was just the first of two separate events showing off the Model 3’s features before it heads to production late next year. Musk hasn’t said where or when the event would take place. In response to another question about the lack of a dashboard, he said, “It will make sense after Part 2.”
IS PART 2 A SELF
DRIVING CAR?
Musk repeatedly referred to the second unveiling event. These exchanges prompted speculation on Twitter about whether the Model 3 may even be a fully self- driving car. Note the fact that Musk never says “steering wheel,” instead referring to “a steering system” and “steering controls.”
In January, Musk said that in about two years a person should be able to summon their Tesla from across the country. That’s roughly in line with the expected timing of the Model 3 rollout. Even if full vehicle autonomy isn’t yet road- ready, it’s likely that Tesla will at least bring the Model 3 a few steps closer. Tesla’s current autopilot mode can already follow speed limit signs, change lanes, avoid collisions, and parallel park, mostly by itself.
THE FRONT END MAY CHANGE
Love it or hate it, the stifflipped front end of the Model 3 is one of its most recognizable features. The car doesn’t have a grille, because unlike a gasoline-powered car, it doesn’t need one. “Some tweaking underway,” Musk wrote in response to a critic of the front-end design. Musk welcomed suggestions but also pointed out that design work is tricky. “Edge and contour refinement are ongoing,” he said, but even a 10th of a millimetre matters.
THESE HUBCAPS ARE STAYING
One Twitter follower, Model3Owners Club, said: “@ elonmusk Please make sure these wheels make it to production. Franz and his team is amazing!”
Musk responded: “They will. We spent a lot of time on those.”
Musk also said the matte black paint job used for one of the prototypes was “surprisingly popular” and “it probably makes sense to bring it to production.”
TESLA WANTS A LOT
OF CARS IN 2018
By Saturday night, there were 276,000 Model 3 rese r vati ons, e ach with a US$1,000 deposit, according to Musk. That’s more than double what the company was expecting, he said. Musk agreed with a comment sug- gesting that at this rate the reservations might exceed 500,000 orders before the second part of the unveiling.
People questioned how quickly Tesla would be able to fill all those orders, and whether U. S. customers would be able to take advantage of the US$ 7,500 federal tax credit for electric car buyers before it expired. The credit will probably begin to phase out for Tesla around October 2018. The company’s plan “should enable large numbers” of new customers — not just current owners of Teslas — to receive the credit, Musk wrote. He also said production should ramp up in time for East Coast customers to qualify for the credit, even though deliveries will start near Tesla’s factories in California so the company can quickly respond to any problems with the first cars off the line.
IT FITS A BIKE INSIDE
Musk fielded several questions about the car’s size, which has been described as unusually spacious for i ts compact footprint. It “will easily fit two child seats, three if you buy slim ones,” Musk wrote. He said it could fit a bike inside “no problem.” The rear seats fold down, “and it will be great for road trips and camping,” he wrote.
‘ MUCH FASTER’
The Model 3 will come with standard rear- wheel drive, with an option for dual- motor all-wheel drive. The rearwheel drive cars will be able to go from zero to 60 in less than four seconds. Musk said the all- wheel drive version will be able to go “a lot faster” than the prototypes on display last week. Upgrading to all- wheel- drive, which includes separate motors in the front and back of the car, will cost less than US$5,000, Musk said.
COMING TO INDIA
By the end of next year, Tesla plans to double both the number of high-speed supercharger stations worldwide, to 7,200, and service locations, to 441. Superchargers are coming to Mexico, Italy and Ireland this year, and service centres will open in Spain. While a European factory needs to be built to meet long- term demand, Musk said, it won’t delay the Model 3 rollout there. As for Asia, Musk wrote on Twitter that “Tesla will be in India before 3 production starts.”
GIFTS FOR EVERYONE
Musk said gifts were on order for everyone who put down US$ 1,000 deposit on a Model 3, with something extra for those who waited in lines that stretched by the hundreds at showrooms around the world. Someone asked if the gift would be a “scale Model 3,” probably referring to a version of the very detailed US$210 diecast model car the company sells of its other models. Musk responded: “And a few other things.”