Tesla Model 3 Starts Production! | Make or Break For Tesla

The Tesla Model 3 is a mid-size all-electric four-door luxury sedan manufactured and marketed by Tesla, Inc. According to Tesla officials the standard Model 3 delivers an EPA rated all-electric range of 220 miles (350 km) and the long range model delivers 310 miles (500 km). The Model 3 has a nearly barren dashboard with only a center mounted LCD touchscreen.

Limited production of the Model 3 began in July 2017, with the first production vehicle rolling off the assembly line on July 7, 2017 and the official launch and delivery of the first 30 cars on July 28.Tesla CEO Elon Musk expects production to reach 20,000 vehicles per month by December 2017 or approximately 50 percent of the design capacity of the manufacturing line.

Within a week of the 2016 unveiling, Tesla said they had taken 325,000 Model 3 reservations, more than triple the number of Model S sedans Tesla had sold by the end of 2015. These reservations represent potential sales of over US$14 billion.By August 2017, there were 455,000 net reservations, and an average of 1,800 additional being added per day.

Company officials said the base model of the all-electric car will have an estimated EPA rated range of 220 miles (350 km), a five-passenger seating capacity, front and rear trunks, and will be able to accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 5.6 seconds (0 to 100 km/h in 5.8 seconds). Tesla's Model 3 is designed to achieve a "5-Star Safety Rating" and is expected to have a drag coefficient of Cd=0.23. This will be lower than the Tesla Model S drag coefficient of Cd=0.24, which in 2014 was the lowest among current production cars. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the rear-wheel drive base model would have great traction on ice because of the fast torque response of the electric motor.

As a result of the high demand for Model 3, in May 2016 Tesla announced its decision to advance its 500,000 total unit build plan (combined for Model S, Model X, and Model 3) to 2018, two years earlier than previously planned, in order to accelerate its target for Model 3 output. Tesla issued US$2 billion in new shares to the stock market to finance the plan.