Boasting a range of 215 miles, and able to reach 60mph in less than six seconds, the Model 3 does not compromise on Tesla’s reputation for luxury or speed, with Musk commenting during the reveal: “At Tesla, we don’t make slow cars”. The company’s CEO, Elon Musk, in the past admitted to a major blunder in pushing for excessive new technology in the Model X, the bulk of which could not be produced in-house at Tesla’s sole manufacturing facility in Fremont.
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Tesla now says it has moved past production delays.
The delivery glitches will not be repeated when the 2017 Model 3 sedan launches late next year, Tesla said.
Tesla has a history of missing deadlines for its vehicles to hit the market, but Musk said last week that he feels “fairly confident” that the Model 3 will come out next year. The production pace picked up to the rate of 750 units per week by the last full week of March, but many vehicles were completed too late to be delivered to customers before the end of the quarter, Tesla notes.
Some prospective buyers who placed early orders may have anticipated paying a lower price for the Model 3 after factoring in a $7,500 federal tax credit on EVs.
Demand is so high that it may be hard for Tesla to keep up with production – Mr Musk said the company is “definitely going to need to rethink production planning”.
Tesla’s new Model 3 was unveiled to great fanfare Thursday night.
Tesla Motors (TSLA) stock staged an upside reversal Tuesday after analysts downplayed the electric-car maker’s Q1 deliveries miss due to a parts shortage. Credits will completely stop when just over 300,000 cars are sold. Tesla stock surge 4% Monday, or $9.40, to $246.99. It says that the production issues have been sorted out and that Model X production is now “on plan”.
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In the first quarter, a total of 14,820 vehicles were delivered. As of December 2015, global sales for the Model S was said to have passed the 100,000 units mark, making it the best-selling electric auto and outselling other cars such as the Nissan Leaf, according to a BBC News report.
