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The First Tesla Model 3 Deliveries Reveal 310-Mile Range and Other Details

To the sound of the Arctic Monkeys and the sight of thousands of geeks flashing their Google Pixels, Elon Musk drove the Tesla Model 3 on stage. It felt like a coming of age event, an "I told you so," as handouts of the first mass-market EV have finally begun.
The First Tesla Model 3 Deliveries Reveal 310-Mile Range and Other Details 14 photos
Photo: Tesla
The First Tesla Model 3 Deliveries Reveal 310-Mile Range and Other DetailsThe First Tesla Model 3 Deliveries Reveal 310-Mile Range and Other DetailsThe First Tesla Model 3 Deliveries Reveal 310-Mile Range and Other DetailsThe First Tesla Model 3 Deliveries Reveal 310-Mile Range and Other DetailsThe First Tesla Model 3 Deliveries Reveal 310-Mile Range and Other DetailsThe First Tesla Model 3 Deliveries Reveal 310-Mile Range and Other DetailsThe First Tesla Model 3 Deliveries Reveal 310-Mile Range and Other DetailsThe First Tesla Model 3 Deliveries Reveal 310-Mile Range and Other DetailsThe First Tesla Model 3 Deliveries Reveal 310-Mile Range and Other DetailsThe First Tesla Model 3 Deliveries Reveal 310-Mile Range and Other DetailsThe First Tesla Model 3 Deliveries Reveal 310-Mile Range and Other DetailsThe First Tesla Model 3 Deliveries Reveal 310-Mile Range and Other DetailsThe First Tesla Model 3 Deliveries Reveal 310-Mile Range and Other Details
The first 30 units were presented to the public at the Freemont factory. Even if you ordered one a long time ago, there's still some waiting to do, but at least we can reveal all the major specs.

Two versions of the car have been promised. The basic one costs from around $35,000 and comes with an estimated range of 220 miles on a full charge (354 km). Performance is decent too, as it takes just 5.6 seconds to reach 60 miles per hour and the top speed is 130 mph.

However, for around $44,000, you can have the Model 3 Long Range, which has 310 miles of range (510 km), a 140 mph top speed and reaches 60 in 5.1 seconds. After incentives, we'd almost call that a performance bargain.

Tesla has learned a few tricks from phone companies, and the two models also differ regarding charging speed -130 miles in 30 minutes at a Supercharger station compared to 170 miles for the Long Range.

There's almost nothing on the inside of the car, just a big screen, as Musk believes the Model 3 will become autonomous soon, even going as far as mentioning sleeping at the wheel. All the necessary hardware is installed, but Tesla's Autopilot is a $5,000 option. In the future, there will also be a fully-autonomous upgrade for $3,000, the CEO says.

While we're on the subject of price, pretty much everybody is going to have to pay $5,000 for the Premium Upgrades Package that includes the LED headlights, powered seats, steering wheel, mirrors and the glass roof.

Because the most important launch of the year doesn't need sugar coating, we'll mention something we didn't like: comparing the crash safety of the Model 3 to the Volvo S60. "It's obvious which car you would prefer to be in in an accident," Musk said, causing laughter from the crowd. But the S60 was launched in 2010, and Volvo's new 90-series models like the XC90 set the bar much higher.

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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