Tesla’s new Model 3 electrifying crowds

In a scene repeated across the country, about 300 people lined up in front of the Tesla showroom here Thursday ready to plunk down a $1,000 deposit on an electric car they hadn’t yet seen.

The crowds at Tesla stores reflected anticipation ahead of the unveiling of Tesla’s Model 3, its first mass-market electric car. The two- and three-hour waits to make a reservation were an indication that Tesla’s gamble may pay off when it comes to luring middle America into considering its electric cars — even at a time of low gas prices.

“This has to be a first for the automotive industry: lines of people waiting to place an order for a car that won’t be available for over a year,” says Jessica Caldwell, analyst for online buying-service Edmunds.com. “This is the type of buzz that you see with

Star Wars movies or new iPhones or even cronuts.”

She added that it is an early, hopeful sign that Tesla can branch out from its environmentally inclined, well-heeled buyers now into the mass market. “If there’s ever been any evidence that Tesla is primed to make the leap to mainstream car buyers, this is it,” she said in a statement.

Expected to be priced at about $35,000, about half the cost of the current cheapest Tesla, the Model 3 will be comparable in price to entry-level luxury cars from BMW, Lexus and Acura. But it will also likely have lower profit margins than Tesla’s two current models, requiring the automaker to vastly raise sales volumes in order to turn a profit.