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Tesla Model 3 Pre-Orders Galore: 325,000 in a Week

Tesla Motors has blown everyone’s expectations with the Model 3, an EV slated to start production in late 2017. The most mind-boggling figure, though, is the interest the sedan has attracted in terms of prospective owners: 325,000 pre-orders in one week.
Tesla Model 3 11 photos
Photo: Tesla
Tesla Model 3 design sketchTesla Model 3 trunkTesla Model 3 frunk (front trunk)Tesla Model 3Tesla Model 3Tesla Model 3Tesla Model 3Tesla Model 3Tesla Model 3Tesla Model 3
From Thursday, March 31, to Thursday, April 7, the phase 1 prototype of the 2018 Tesla Model 3 has convinced hundreds of thousands of people to cough $1,000 per head. In other words, the Palo Alto-based manufacturer controlled by 21st century boy Elon Musk has made $325 million in a single week.

Multiply 325,000 by $35,000, the starting price of a Model 3 before the $7,500 tax credit, and the end result is $11.375 billion. The thing is, some people are sure to cancel their orders, make no mistake about that.

Another thing to take into consideration other than the people who’ll chicken out is the fact that Tesla expects to deliver as many as 90,000 cars in 2016 and a little over 100,000 cars in 2017, the calendar year that will see the Model 3 start production. That output is overshadowed by the demand for the Model 3, which is a problem for Tesla. Happily, however, France has made a proposition to Tesla about building a production facility in the country, in a decommissioned nuclear plant.

Only time will tell if that offer will materialize. According to previous reports published by the European media, the head honcho of the electric vehicle manufacturer from Palo Alto is undecided between France and Germany for a second Tesla factory. Furthermore, Tesla Motors is reportedly interested in opening a manufacturing plant in China if demand grows in the Middle Kingdom as well.

At the end of the day, the Model 3 is a lot more than an instant commercial success. It is the type of car that will push the envelope for Tesla as an automaker and for the EV industry as a whole considering what happened during a Daimler shareholders meeting.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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