Tesla’s big on high performance electric cars, but they’ve generally been priced out of range of most of the population. The Model 3, unveiled last night, aims to change that, and despite its price being still a bit high, starting at $35,000, and its late 2017 shipping window, they’ve already sold a whole lot of them.
In the first 24 hours of preorders yesterday, during most of which the car had yet to be revealed at all, at least 130,000 were spoken for. That’s even more impressive considering that the required downpayment was $1,000. Luckily for those preorder customers, the car sounds exactly as impressive as we’ve come to expect, though $35,000 is, of course, the starting price before any options are added (and without factoring in any environmentally friendly incentives).
However, even that cost of admission gets you plenty of bang (or not, because of the lack of a combustion engine) for your buck. As Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk put it at the unveiling event, “You will not be able to buy a better car for $35,000.” The Model 3 goes from o–60 in under six seconds, achieves at least 215 miles of range on a single charge, seats five adults “comfortably” according to the presentation (you’ll have to be the judge on that one), is promised to hit the highest safety ratings, and comes with the same autopilot features found on other Tesla vehicles.
So, with the Model 3 and its oncoming competition, be prepared for a near future of more and more electric-only vehicles on the road. Also be more prepared for people doing dumb stuff like this with them, I guess. Drive safe.
(image via Tesla Motors)
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