The very first Model 3 is done and this is it, beautiful isn’t it? Founder of Tesla, Elon Musk tweeted earlier today that he is actually the owner of that very important nameplate 1. The first Model 3 was meant to go to the first person to pay in full for the car, which was actually Ira Ehrenpreis, from Double bottom line venture capital.
Turns out as a birthday present to Musk, Ehrenpreis gave the first Model 3 back to Musk. That’s a pretty amazing addition to his collection, with Musk tweeting that he owns the first Roadster and X, but not S. That accolade goes to Jason Calacanis.
The Model 3 is an incredibly important vehicle to the company, as its the first ‘affordably priced’ car from Tesla and the first to be produced in high volumes. While there’s plenty of Model S owners in the world, there’ll still a tiny number collectively compared to the production runs of Ford, Toyota or GM.
Tesla set a pre-order record for the Model 3 with more than 400,000 pre-orders, many within the first 24 hours and many before they’d even seen the car. Even now as the first car rolls off the production line, we know very little about the interior of the vehicle.
The car will be available for around A$50,000, a price point that plenty of people buy vehicles at, compared to the $150-200k price tag for the Model S. The car itself looks amazing in renders, albeit a little smaller than the Model S, but now we’ve got a proper photo of the final product, the Model 3 looks fantastic.
Even with the cheaper price, it’ll still feature the crazy acceleration (0-100 in under 6 seconds) and great range (346km) Tesla is well known for and also offer Autopilot (autonomous driving) technology.
Production unit 1 of Model 3 is now built and going through final checkout. Pics soon.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 9, 2017
Ira Ehrenpreis had rights to 1st car as he was 1st to place a full deposit, but gave those rights to me as my 46th bday present. Tks Ira!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 9, 2017
It's who is first to pay full price for the car. Hard rule. I have first Roadster and X, but not first S.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 9, 2017
@elonmusk you deserve it!!! Much love and respect for everything you do for @TeslaMotors, #Renewables, and our #planet. #nooneworksharder https://t.co/UJYTbVAIp0
— Ira Ehrenpreis (@IraEhrenpreis) July 9, 2017
For more information, head to https://www.tesla.com/model3