Tesla offers first look at new Model 3 as inaugural vehicle rolls off the line
by Christopher S. Rugaber, The Associated Press
The new electric vehicle is the company's first aimed at the mass market. It can travel 215 miles on one charge and will sell for about US$35,000
The first of the electric vehicle’s Model 3 sedans outside its production plant in Fremont, Calif. The inaugural model belongs to CEO Elon Musk, according to Bloomberg. PHOTO: Tesla
WASHINGTON—Electric automaker Tesla has produced its first Model 3 sedan, a highly anticipated car because it carries a relatively low sticker price.
CEO Elon Musk late July 8 tweeted pictures of the car, which will cost US$35,000 and can travel 215 miles on a single electric charge. A $7,500 federal tax credit for electric vehicles would lower the cost to $27,500 in the U.S.
The new model comes after a bad week for Tesla’s stock price.
Shares fell roughly 14 per cent after Musk tweeted that deliveries of the company’s other two models—the Model S sedan and Model X SUV—were at the low-end of the company’s projections in the first half of this year. Musk also said the company would make 20,000 Model 3s in December, below previous estimates.
Musk earlier had said Tesla would make 10,000 Model 3s per week by December.
Musk also has said the Palo Alto, California-based company will hold a party to hand over the first 30 Model 3s to customers on July 28.
Tesla expects to produce 100 cars in August and more than 1,500 in September, Musk tweeted earlier.
While second-quarter deliveries rose 53 per cent from a year ago, they still were about 12 per cent below first-quarter deliveries. Tesla said in a statement that second-quarter production was hampered by a severe shortfall of battery packs. Production averaged 40 per cent less than demand until early June, the company said.
The company also announced a new contract to build the world’s largest battery in southern Australia late last week.
