Tesla unveils Model 3 (Model E) with Range Over 215 Miles
Tesla sells $7.5b worth of new Model 3 units in 24 hours
Basic model can go from 0 to 100kph in under 6 seconds, with 300km-plus range on one charge; but it won't go on sale until late 2017 and more than 180,000 reservations made in first 24 hours
Tesla Motors gave a sneak preview Thursday of its Model 3 sedan, saying more than 130,000 people had ordered the car, even though it is more than a year away from production.
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk unveiled a prototype of the Model 3 in Hawthorne, California outside Los Angeles to hundreds of Tesla owners and the media, saying the vehicle will go into production in 2017 at a starting price of $35,000.
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk unveiled a prototype of the Model 3 in Hawthorne, California outside Los Angeles to hundreds of Tesla owners and the media, saying the vehicle will go into production in 2017 at a starting price of $35,000.
The Model 3 is critical to the Silicon Valley automaker's growth plans and to sustaining its lofty stock price. Tesla shares have jumped in recent days in anticipation of the Model 3 launch.
The Model 3 will enter a crowded field of luxury and electric cars that includes gasoline-fueled models such as the Audi A4 and BMW 3-Series, and electric models such as the forthcoming Chevrolet Bolt EV from General Motors Co.
"Do you want to see the car?" teased Musk, to screams from the audience in the hangar-sized facility inside a Tesla design center. "We don't have it for you tonight -- just kidding!"
Three Model 3s were driven onstage. The compact sleek four-door car with no grille features a roof that is a panoramic pane of glass from front to back.
Musk said that 115,000 pre-orders had already been taken on Thursday alone for the car. Within a half hour, that number reached 137,600 in a rolling scroll projected onto a screen.
The Model 3 will enter a crowded field of luxury and electric cars that includes gasoline-fueled models such as the Audi A4 and BMW 3-Series, and electric models such as the forthcoming Chevrolet Bolt EV from General Motors Co.
"Do you want to see the car?" teased Musk, to screams from the audience in the hangar-sized facility inside a Tesla design center. "We don't have it for you tonight -- just kidding!"
Three Model 3s were driven onstage. The compact sleek four-door car with no grille features a roof that is a panoramic pane of glass from front to back.
Musk said that 115,000 pre-orders had already been taken on Thursday alone for the car. Within a half hour, that number reached 137,600 in a rolling scroll projected onto a screen.
