A year after the introduction of the prototype Model 3, Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to his medium of choice, Twitter, to share more details on the pending production version.
Due in just three months in July, the Model 3 is arguably the biggest news for electric cars going, and may even be this year’s biggest news among all cars overall.
You’ve probably heard the baseline specs by now: A cool car starting at $35,000 (plus potential delivery fee), range at least 215 miles, larger battery optional and all-wheel-drive optional, Autopilot, trickle-down tech from Model S, and did we mention it was going to be cool?
To date, the only car with similar range and price is the Chevy Bolt which began sales last October in California and Oregon. That FWD compact crossover that was developed in response to Tesla’s planned 3 will continue to roll out to the rest of the country through September.
Musk has said there will be a second reveal prior to the first Model 3s being delivered, but meanwhile here are some of the details revealed.
Details
Although the Model 3 will be all new, as a price leader it will not introduce new technology ahead of the upscale Model S and X.
The front end design now looks a bit like a Porsche Panamera, now with cameras for Autopilot, but the newness will be under the skin. Specifically, technology is devoted to design and production of the car, but it won’t have anything “majorly new that a consumer would notice.”
The Model 3 also will skip a basic process that new car manufacturers normally go through, and that is beta testing. Or rather, Tesla will sell initial cars to employees who will act as beta testers in the interest of getting it out sooner.
If something does go awry, well, they can just drive it to work and get the fix or update and Tesla will refine the car as needed on the fly.
Also perhaps a bit unexpected is all-wheel drive is not due until next year. Some had speculated that the top-shelf AWD models would come first along with bigger batteries as those would be most profitable and that pattern was seen for Model S and Model S.
Here also the move was made to expedite the roll-out.
Musk mentioned the Model S came first in RWD, and that’s true – in fact the “D” was a reveal that came unexpectedly later – but otherwise the most-expensive Signature S models were delivered first in 2012.
Also of note is the battery capacity size is limited to 75 kWh due to its shorter wheelbase than the Model S and X. Those cars Tesla has managed to squeeze a 100 kWh battery option into, but they are heavier, so we shall see how much range the 75 gets.
One person asked Musk if the Model 3 will have more range than the Bolt and Musk implied yes.
The Bolt, less aerodynamic than the 3, is EPA rated 238 miles from a 60 kWh battery. The base Model 3 is expected to have a smaller battery than that and deliver at least 215 miles, and obviously the larger battery options will exceed the Bolt’s range.
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