Tesla Motors took almost 276,000 orders for its newest car, the Tesla Model 3, in three days, according to the company’s chief executive Elon Musk.
The Model 3 will cost at least $35,000 when it ships in mid–2017, meaning the company has secured $9.7 billion worth of sales for a car still over a year away from rolling off the production line.
The average price of the Model 3s reserved was $42,000, including the price of options and additional features, which would give the initial flurry of orders an estimated retail value of about $11.6 billion.
276k Model 3 orders by end of Sat
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 3, 2016
Elon Musk revealed the figure via Twitter over the weekend, where he also confirmed that the new Model 3 will of course, be rear-wheel-drive, with the option of a dual-motor AWD version. But, “even RWD will have great traction on ice due to fast torque response of Tesla drivetrain”.
Model 3 will be RWD, with dual motor AWD optional. Even RWD will have great traction on ice due to fast torque response of Tesla drivetrain.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 3, 2016
Tesla started taking reservations for the model on Thursday. By the time Elon Musk unveiled it, the car had 115,000. Not long after, and while the reveal event was still ongoing, the number was climbing into the high 130,000s.
Such has been the interest that Mr Musk tweeted the company was “definitely going to need to rethink production planning”.
Musk has promised another update on Wednesday April 6 to share the first full week’s order figures. While it would be difficult to predict the demand curve for the Model 3, if this level of demand keeps up, we might soon be writing of 500,000 orders and $20 billion.
It’ll take $1,000 to get a reservation slot. It can be ordered in advance in dozens of countries, including the UK, Republic of Ireland, Brazil, India, China and New Zealand. The very first cars are planned to roll off the line late next year, and early cars will be going to existing Tesla owners on the West Coast.
The Tesla Model 3 is about 20% smaller in stature than its Model S bigger brother – will be able to go from 0 to 60 in under six seconds in its base configuration, with versions that go “much faster.” The Model 3 will also be fitted with Tesla’s autopilot features, which have helped the car be among the safest on highways.
