Electric muscle

LEFT: Elon Musk has a vision of an environmentally sustainable future. FAR LEFT: His Model 3 electric car was recently unveiled. BELOW: Tesla’s huge Gigafactory in the Nevada desert in the US will be solar-powered. accelerates like a sports car (0-100 km/h in five seconds) and has a range of 440 km. It was crowned Motor Trend’s Car of 2013.

Musk then came up with a monster version of the Model S: the four-wheeldrive, doubled-engine P85D capable of going from 0-100 km/h in 3,2 seconds, was the fastest four-door production sedan ever made.

Then there was last year’s Model X, the SUV with a 0-100 km/h time of 3,2 seconds. But with a price tag of $75 000 to $100 000 (R1,1 million to R1,5 million) for the Model S and the Model X, depending on engine version and extras, Tesla cars are well out of the reach of mainstream motorists.

Enter the Model 3. “You won’t get a better car for $35 000 (R525 000), even without any extras,” Musk said at its unveiling. The tech billionaire, who’s also aiming for Mars with his SpaceX Project, recently had the motor industry sitting up and taking notice when he announced a production target of half a million Model 3s a year by 2018 instead of 2020 as originally planned.

The buzz around the Model 3 has been compared to that surrounding the launch of the Ford Mustang in the ’60s. The Mustang was a classic muscle car that suddenly became affordable to many. Now here’s a fully electric car that has even dedicated petrol-heads excited.

The standard Model 3 will go from 0-100 km/h in just more than five seconds, and there will be much faster versions. It can go about 350 km before the battery has to be recharged – about twice the distance of cars that recently came onto the South African market made by competitors.

Tesla’s autopilot system will be standard on all Model 3 versions. Using ultrasonic sensors the Model 3 will largely steer itself, stay in its lane, change lanes, avoid obstacles and park itself. There will be more than enough room for five adults and it will have a boot at the front and rear.

“It has more cargo capacity than any petrol-driven car of the same dimensions,” Musk says.

In short, the Model 3 could be the death blow to the perception that fully electric cars are unattractive, sluggish, cramped and unreliable (due to a limited range).

And of course Tesla owners won’t have to pay for petrol – they’ll simply plug their cars into a power point at home.

Musk has simplified the planning of long journeys for Tesla drivers with his Supercharger Network: free high-speed recharging points ( basically “petrol pumps” for electric cars) throughout North America and on some major

Sroutes in Europe and Pacific Asia. By the end of 2017 there could be 7 200 Superchargers worldwide – twice as many as there are now.

It’s been a long time since there was so much excitement about an electric car. Within weeks of the Model 3’s unveiling more than 400 000 people had put down the $1 000 (R15 000) deposit to have their names on the waiting list for one. The Gigafactory won’t only be producing batteries for the Model 3. The factory is being built in sections and parts of it are already operational.

The Powerwall, a battery pack for home use which starts at $3 000 (about R45 000), and the bigger Powerpack, for commercial use and starting at $25 000 (R375 000), are already being manufactured there. Tesla introduced these batteries, which can be charged by the national power network or renewable energy sources such as solar power, in the US last year.

Battery production for the Model 3 should be up and running next year. The batteries will be sent by rail to the Tesla factory in California, where commercial production of the Model 3 should start at the end of next year.

Gigafactory 1 is just the first of such mega-factories. Speaking at a Tesla function, Musk said his vision for the electric car in the 21st century extended far beyond the manufacturing base in Nevada. More Gigafactories will be built elsewhere, and not necessarily by Tesla.

Thanks to Musk’s philosophy of progress through accessible technology, anyone who wants to start their own megascale battery factory could use the blueprint of the original factory. South Africa is one of about 50 countries for which Tesla has created an orders page on its website for the Model 3. If you put down a deposit of about R15 000 you can register your interest on the waiting list.

At a price of R525 000 at the present exchange rate, the Model 3 is still too expensive for the average South African motorist.

But who knows what might happen in future? Tesla will gradually increase production, competition between manufacturers will increase, and the rand could become more competitive.