Photo: YouTube screenshot
The Model 3 pre-launch brought an industry-first with the 400,000+ people who already placed a reservation for the vehicle even though they hadn't even seen it in production guise, let alone climb onboard or drive it.
Many would say it's a first only because most (read "all") manufacturers don't show their cars to the public one year ahead of production start and ask them to place reservations, but that doesn't change the fact it's an unprecedented situation.
Come July, all those 400k people (or God knows how many there are by now as Tesla hasn't released an update for nearly a year) will have to convert their reservations into orders, putting the company in the weird situation where it has one year's worth of production already accounted for.
This math only holds out if there are indeed roughly 400,000 reservations and Tesla actually manages to ramp up Model 3 production to 400,000 units per year by the end of 2018 (500,000 units overall), with both these presumptions being pretty unlikely.
Which would also explain why Tesla is openly anti-selling the Model 3, hoping more people would skip on the wait for the cheaper car and opt for a Model S or Model X instead. The company did it once again in the message announcing the start of Model 3 test drivers sent to some of the reservation holders.
The headline (via Electrek) read "Test Drive a Tesla," and the key here is the indefinite article. The rest of the text followed: "Model 3 test drives will begin late 2017. First priority will be for current reservation holders. Model S and Model X test drivers are available now." It's almost like that Nissan LEAF ad that said: "No one should have any reservations about getting an electric car today," only using other words.
But at least we did find out that Tesla plans to offer the first test drives "late this year," and since the first cars are destined for company employees - which will also act as a last-ditch evaluation phase - it all seems to fall within the official schedule. That says production should start by the end of next month, so we don't know about you, but we can think of 400,000 people who are getting more and more excited with each day that passes.
Come July, all those 400k people (or God knows how many there are by now as Tesla hasn't released an update for nearly a year) will have to convert their reservations into orders, putting the company in the weird situation where it has one year's worth of production already accounted for.
This math only holds out if there are indeed roughly 400,000 reservations and Tesla actually manages to ramp up Model 3 production to 400,000 units per year by the end of 2018 (500,000 units overall), with both these presumptions being pretty unlikely.
Which would also explain why Tesla is openly anti-selling the Model 3, hoping more people would skip on the wait for the cheaper car and opt for a Model S or Model X instead. The company did it once again in the message announcing the start of Model 3 test drivers sent to some of the reservation holders.
The headline (via Electrek) read "Test Drive a Tesla," and the key here is the indefinite article. The rest of the text followed: "Model 3 test drives will begin late 2017. First priority will be for current reservation holders. Model S and Model X test drivers are available now." It's almost like that Nissan LEAF ad that said: "No one should have any reservations about getting an electric car today," only using other words.
But at least we did find out that Tesla plans to offer the first test drives "late this year," and since the first cars are destined for company employees - which will also act as a last-ditch evaluation phase - it all seems to fall within the official schedule. That says production should start by the end of next month, so we don't know about you, but we can think of 400,000 people who are getting more and more excited with each day that passes.
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