Photo: Tesla Motors
There were three things about the Tesla Model 3 that sat on everybody's minds before the March preview event: the new car's design, its maximum range and, of course, its dynamic performances.
Elon Musk's speech and the very short assisted test drives that followed mostly provided answers for the first two of them, but the last part wasn't covered very thoroughly. We knew the base model would go at least 215 miles on a single charge, and we could see the Model 3 looked like a more modern, less serious version of the Model S, but the company's CEO wasn't very loose about the car's go-fast numbers.
Musk did say that the cheapest Model 3 - the one that will fulfill the $35,000 prophecy - will have a zero to 60 miles per hour sprint time of "under six seconds," which was probably enough for most. Those who weren't happy with this figure - not because of its ambiguity, but of its relatively high value - were told that the fourth Tesla model would also get its own Ludicrous mode, so, yeah, it'll go fast.
Now, we get further proof of this promise by means of a leaked picture showing the new in-house built inverter, complete with an explanatory label. First of all, what is this inverter and why should we care? Well, it's a very important component of an electric drivetrain as it converts DC (direct current) coming from the battery into AC (alternative current) that goes into the electric motor. It comes with a power figure attached to it which represents the top limit of its output. In this case, the label reads "320 kW."
Like the Model S, the Model 3 will come standard with a single electric motor driving the rear wheels. If this image leaked by Electrek turns out to be true, that means the base Model 3 will have 435 hp. To get an idea, the current BMW M3 only has 431 hp, and even though the Bavarian is definitely the lighter of the two cars, the nature of the torque delivery for electric motors means that the Model 3 should be quite fast off the line. And bear in mind we're talking about the base model here.
Because the Model 3 isn't all about the $35,000 price tag. More expensive models will offer larger capacity batteries and two electric motors, one for each axle. Even though the one driving the front wheels will have a lower power value, it will add to the Model 3's get go ability - not to mention providing the all-wheel-drive levels of grip that help current Tesla dart off into the distance off the line.
Musk did say that the cheapest Model 3 - the one that will fulfill the $35,000 prophecy - will have a zero to 60 miles per hour sprint time of "under six seconds," which was probably enough for most. Those who weren't happy with this figure - not because of its ambiguity, but of its relatively high value - were told that the fourth Tesla model would also get its own Ludicrous mode, so, yeah, it'll go fast.
Now, we get further proof of this promise by means of a leaked picture showing the new in-house built inverter, complete with an explanatory label. First of all, what is this inverter and why should we care? Well, it's a very important component of an electric drivetrain as it converts DC (direct current) coming from the battery into AC (alternative current) that goes into the electric motor. It comes with a power figure attached to it which represents the top limit of its output. In this case, the label reads "320 kW."
Like the Model S, the Model 3 will come standard with a single electric motor driving the rear wheels. If this image leaked by Electrek turns out to be true, that means the base Model 3 will have 435 hp. To get an idea, the current BMW M3 only has 431 hp, and even though the Bavarian is definitely the lighter of the two cars, the nature of the torque delivery for electric motors means that the Model 3 should be quite fast off the line. And bear in mind we're talking about the base model here.
Because the Model 3 isn't all about the $35,000 price tag. More expensive models will offer larger capacity batteries and two electric motors, one for each axle. Even though the one driving the front wheels will have a lower power value, it will add to the Model 3's get go ability - not to mention providing the all-wheel-drive levels of grip that help current Tesla dart off into the distance off the line.
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