Tesla have just unveiled the details of their latest car, the Tesla Model 3. The new car will be slightly smaller than the Model S but still very capable. There won’t just be one Model S, there’ll actually be multiple varieties of the Model S.
The Model 3 will be one of the safest cars and the minimum performance option will be 0-100km/hr in less than 6 seconds, with versions of the Model 3 that does “much faster”. All Model 3’s will come standard with Autopilot features, that’s fantastic to see Tesla be able to fit the Autopilot technology at a much lower price point.
The Model S fits 5 passengers comfortably and features a windscreen / roof similar to the Model X that provides better visibility. All Model 3’s come with supercharging capability as standard and Australia already has a comprehensive EV infrastructure with Tesla’s Supercharger network. There are more than 3,600 Superchargers and around the same Destination chargers, but Musk says they’re going to 2x the Superchargers and 4x the destination chargers by the end of next year. The cars automatically adapt to chargers around the globe.
The Model 3 will begin delivery next year and will start at US$35,000.
“We don’t make slow cars”
CEO and founder of Tesla, Elon Musk began the event explaining how critical it is to accelerate the transition to sustainable transport. Musk pointed to rising CO2 emissions from petrol-power vehicles that are causing a change in the world’s climate.
It take multiple iterations and economies of scale to make an affordable car and with their 4th vehicle, the Modle 3, they’ve done it. They also proved that electric doesn’t have to mean ugly cars, they can be made to look good and perform and electric cars can be the best car.
Musk went on to thank Model S and Model X owners for helping fund the development of the Model 3, saying without them, it wouldn’t be possible.
Elon Musk announced at the event that in the past 24 hours since pre-orders started, they have already received 115,000 pre-orders. That is an amazing number consider nobody had seen the car until a few minutes ago.
Now here’s the car… it looks amazing and early reaction is very positive online. Those wheels are very unique and while there was no discussion of the internals, the photos reveal Tesla are once again opting for a large touchscreen as a control interface.
