As many members of the tech community already know, the Tesla Model 3 was finally unveiled yesterday after years of anticipation. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the company, Tesla is a budding electric car company that is famous for their cool, stylistic vehicles.
Their CEO, Elon Musk, is also widely regarded as an entrepreneur that will shape the future. Tesla’s mission is to provide electric vehicles to protect the environment. Up until now, the tech startup has only released two major cars: the Model S and Model X.
The Model S is a large luxury sedan while the newer Model X is a luxury SUV. And both are fully electric, of course. However, because the company has only released expensive luxury vehicles, they have not gotten much money because there is not a very affordable option. Most luxury car manufacturers obtain most of their profits from medium-end cars around $35,000 U.S. Tesla’s big step up is to do this, and it is happening with the Model 3, starting at $35,000.
Before going over features of the car, I’d like to enlighten you with an interesting backstory to all of Tesla’s vehicles so far (excluding the Roadster). As hinted to in the presentation, Elon Musk’s plan was to create these three vehicles, the Model S, 3, and X. He originally wanted the Model 3, however, to be named the Model E. Think about this a little more. Model S, 3(E), and X. Yeah. Thanks Elon.
Moving on, the unveiling consisted first of Tesla’s progress so far. Elon stated that their enormous Gigafactory, meant for creating lithium-ion batteries, is now operational. He also introduced the three previous cars and stated Tesla’s mission. Finally, the time came when the car was unveiled. The lights dimmed, people cheered, and… three Model 3’s were boringly driven onstage. I was hoping for the cars to rise up out of the ground through the two circles cut into the stage, but no. Not even having Tesla’s brilliant AutoPilot feature drive it onstage. Disappointing.
Be that as it may, the three polished cars (one red, one gray, one silver) were astonishing. The design was surprising to many, as the front did not feature the same rounded shape as the Model S, but more of the futuristic and closed design the Model X features. It is also not as large as the Model S, and also much less sleek in its design. Here’s a picture.
For some performance statistics, the Model 3 goes from 0-60 in a quick 6 seconds, although Musk hinted that it could be faster depending on different versions of the Model 3. The car can also go an impressive 215 miles on one charge, a bit less than its big brother, the Model S, although still twice as much as a Nissan Leaf.
On the interior, the camera’s quick pass by reveals a large, horizontal touch screen, sporty seats, and a simple interior. The screen will be the control panel for the car and behave much as the one in the Model S.
At the time of this post, Tesla has received well over 250,000 reservations for the Model 3 at $1,000 per. That means Tesla has made over $250,000,000 in less than two days. To reserve a Model 3, go to www.teslamotors.com.
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