Automobiles were considered too expensive for the common man until Henry Ford released the Model T in 1908. It was an overnight success.
With over 325,000 reservations and counting it’s hard to not make similar comparison’s to Tesla’s Model 3.
Will it really transform the automotive industry like Elon Musk hopes?
What does the Tesla Model 3 need to do to convince you to get one? For us, we’re definitely going to need to see what the interior looks like on the finalized version.
Video Transcript :
Since Tesla’s inception they’ve promised that their lineup of high cost, low volume cars were simply paving the way for an eventual mass market EV.
Well, Tesla’s final stage in their master plan is finally here.
Does it live up to the hype?
115,000 people had already lined up and pre-ordered the Model 3 without even seeing what the car looked like! That’s $115 million in the bank without showing a single teaser image of the car. So how many of those 115,000 people are waking up with a serious case of buyer’s remorse right now? You be the judge!
The Model 3 clearly follows the strong design lexicon laid out by the Model S and Model X.
However, once you get passed the sleek exterior you’ll see Tesla got rid of the grille! Love it or hate it the grille less front end is certainly going to take some getting used to.
Like the Model S it comes with an all-glass roof and usable space in the front and rear.
The Model 3 looks like a hatch… but without the hatch… which means it has a lot less usable space in the rear than the S.
While the Model 3 you’re seeing here is supposed to be pretty damn close to the finished version, it’s still a prototype.
The most stark example of that is its spartan interior.
Tesla’s minimalist interior design is pushed to the max here. While it certainly looks like it could seat 5 comfortably, there’s no sign of a speedometer, gauges, or even a HUD. In fact, I don’t even see any AC vents on this thing! In fact, everything you’d expect to see in the front seats of a car are stuffed into a 15-inch tablet screen that looks tacked onto the dash.
We hope to see a HUD or integrated display in the production version but a Tesla spokesperson says “while Model 3 is still a prototype, the interior is reflective of our production intention.”
Trim levels for the Model 3 are yet to be announced but the standard Model 3 will give you at least 215 miles of range on a charge for $35,000 before incentives. It also comes standard with supercharging functionality for road trips, Tesla’s autopilot safety features and a promised 5-star safety rating in all categories to make it the safest car in its class.
Performance wise the Model 3 will be rolling out in RWD or AWD powertrains with the base model getting to 60 miles per hour in under 6 seconds.
Ultimately, we won’t find out all the details of the Model 3 until closer to its release date in late 2017, but what do you think so far?
Elon Musk says they already hit 180,000 pre-orders in the first 24 hours. That totals up to an estimated $7.5 billion in sales in a single day!
So will the Model 3 transform the automotive industry like Tesla hopes? Let us know in our poll here.
Tesla’s long-awaited reveal is the biggest news this week, so until next time, I’m Ken and you’ve just been refreshed!
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