Most affordable Tesla car, the Model 3, has been anticipated for over 3 years. Just after the opening of pre-orders, over 325000 Tesla Model 3 cars were ordered in just a week and over half a million in total. About a month ago, it was announced that the car has finally entered the production phase. Company has finally fulfilled its promise by delivering the first 30 orders to customers on Friday, July 28th.
Car handover was a special event at Tesla factory in Fremont, California. Company’s website live streamed the entire event, where Elon Musk drove a red Tesla Model 3 for the spectators.
Elon Musk announced that the company has manufactured 50 units of Model 3, 20 of which are being used for testing, while the rest of the 30 have been delivered to the customers who registered first. Just prior to launch, Elon Musk said that it was “quite a challenge” to build the car during early days of production. He added,
“We’re going to go through at least six months of manufacturing hell.”
Watch the first Model 3 handovers live on https://t.co/8uVlhvzpu5 pic.twitter.com/lofvGeGPMy
— Tesla (@Tesla) July 29, 2017
After booking of half a million pre-orders, company offered more pre-book orders for a refundable deposit of $1,000, making them eligible for tax credits. All of these bookings will materialize only by mid of 2018.
Production shortfalls caused a loss of $2 billion last year, and the Tesla Model 3 is expected to generate more cash inflows. The rising orders for Tesla cars call for the production of 500,000 a year. If the famous EV manufacturer manages to deliver the required cars, it will get way beyond the reputed car makers like BMW, Mercedes, and Lexus.