Tesla chief executive Elon Musk rolled out the first 30 of the company’s electric cars with a more affordable price tag: $35,000. NBC business correspondent Jo Ling Kent reports for TODAY that Musk plans to produce 500,000 more vehicles next year.
“It starts off with design,” said Tesla founder Elon Musk as he presented the brand-new Tesla Model 3 at the Tesla Model 3 Handovers event.
The event itself was partially powered by a Model 3—the battery of one car was used to project Musk’s presentation onto a wall of the Fremont, California factory where the event was held.
During his presentation, Musk described how the highly anticipated new car will be different—in terms of design, safety, and accessibility. Take a look at some main points below.
“Smaller on the outside, bigger on the inside.”
The Model 3 is smaller than the Model S, so the Tesla design team took a design element of the Model X—the canopy screen, an extended glass windshield that gives a panoramic view—and applied it to the rear of the Model 3, providing an airy feel that “makes you feel like you are flying a helicopter”.
The removal of all buttons and gears—leaving only a sleek touchscreen interface—also maximizes free space in the vehicle, and emphasizes the autonomy of Tesla vehicles.
“It is obvious which you would prefer to be in, in an accident.”
The autonomy of Tesla vehicles are to play a large role in their safety. Stated Musk, “You’ll be able to watch a movie, talk to friends, uh, go to sleep.”
“Initial target of 5000 cars a week, hopefully next year 10,000 cars a week.”
Musk assured that those who want to own a Model 3 would have one soon, and that the new Nevada Gigafactory—the largest battery factory in the world—is slated to produce “more lithium ion batteries than the rest of global production combined,” promises Musk. “Giant factory making batteries…giant factory making cars, and giant supply train…in order to get to our initial target of 5000 cars a week and hopefully by the end of next year 10,000 cars a week.”
“By the end of next year, there will be three times the number of superchargers as there are today.”
The company also plans on tripling the amount of superchargers available worldwide—there are currently 6124 superchargers, and the company hopes there will be +18,000 by the end of 2018— promising that soon, driving a Tesla will be easily available “almost anywhere on Earth”.
At a very accessible price point of US$35,000, the standard Model 3 has a 220 mile range, a top speed of 130 mph, and an acceleration of 5.6 sec for 0-60 mph. The long range Model 3 has a range of 310 miles, 140 mph top speed, and acceleration of 5.1 sec 0-60 mph.
(via Design TAXI)
