At present, Nissan’s Leaf is the best-selling electric auto. I dig the nose on the Model 3 a lot, in fact it’s what draws me to the auto, but CNET said it won’t be “exactly” like that. Tesla didn’t elaborate on its statement, but those are still some impressive numbers for a company that is not quite as mainstream as Apple or Sony and is selling an expensive product with a learning curve. In order to place a reservation, potential owners had to plunk down a refundable $1,000. Analysts have, however, cast doubt the company will be able to fill all of the initial Model 3 orders. Based on that figure, Pacific Crest’s Brad Erickson estimated that pre-orders would reach somewhere between 350,000 and 400,000 after a full week.
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Tesla received more than 276,000 orders for the lower-priced vehicle in just 48 hours – a number which Musk himself was surprised by.
And the backlog only continued to swell from there, passing 325,000 reservations to become what Tesla is calling the “single biggest one-week launch of any product ever”. “Most importantly, we are taking a huge step towards a better future by accelerating the transition to sustainable transportation”, the company said on its website.
CHECK OUT: Tesla Model 3 deposits now 300,000 or more; what does this imply? The less-than-expected 325,000 requests that the company posted this morning could explain why the stock has dipped slightly, ending its unstoppable growth since the Model 3 was announced.
Although the first deliveries of the Model 3 are due to start arriving in 2017, most people who reserve the auto likely won’t get theirs until 2018 or later given the unprecedented demand.
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Elon Musk also hinted that the rather spartan interior that we’ve seen in these early prototypes is not what will ship with the production Model 3. In a Twitter Q&A the other day, the billionaire CEO said he expects the Model 3 to crack a half-a-million preorders even before part two of the auto is unveiled later this year.
