Tesla exposes prices, more specs for Model Three
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Elon Musk took to the stage at his company`s Fremont factory to produce the very first thirty Model three sedans to the very first thirty employee-customers Friday night, and with all the fanfare came more details about Tesla`s third model.
The largest news is pricing, which still lists at $35,000 to begin, as expected, but which can go as high as $59,500 if you blast it up with the Tesla equivalent of the kitchen bury. Options exposed include:
— $9,000 Long Range Battery, good for three hundred ten miles of range, ninety miles more than the stock 220-mile battery. If you get the thicker battery you can also launch from 0-60 more quickly, Five.1 seconds with the fatter battery as opposed to Five.6 with the smaller. Top speed also increases, hitting one hundred forty mph instead of just 130.
— $Five,000 Premium Upgrades Package includes: heated seats, 12-way adjustable power front seats, steering column and side mirrors; premium audio, tinted glass roof with UV and IR protection; auto dimming, power-folding, heated side mirrors; LED fog lamps; and center console with covered storage and docking for two smartphones.
— $Five,000 Enhanced Autopilot that automatically matches speed with traffic, stays in a lane, switches lanes, transitions from one freeway to another, exits the freeway and self-parks.
— $Three,000 Total Self-Driving Capability: This is a future product that will drive the car from point to point with no activity required by the driver. It`s not available at launch but will be at some unspecified future point.
— $1,000 for your choice of three shades of metallic paint: midnight silver, deep blue, silver, pearl white; or multi-coat: pearl white or crimson. The standard color, like the original Model T, is black.
— $1,500 for 19-inch Sport wheels. The base wheel is an 18-inch wheel called Aero.
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Tesla also exposed the Model Three`s measurements, which fall in inbetween a BMW 3-Series and an Audi A4: 184.8 inches long, 72.8 inches broad, Five.8 inches high, wheelbase 113.Two inches (the latter two inches longer than the 3-Series and A4). The curb weights for the hybrid steel/aluminum bod are Three,549 pounds for the base model and Trio,814 for the Long Range model with all those extra batteries. Weight distribution is 47/53 f/r base, 48/52 Long Range.
Tesla lists an incredible (as in, hard to believe) coefficient of haul of 0.23.
Tesla lists suspension as dual wishbone, virtual steer axis front suspension with coilover twin-tube shock absorbers and stabilizer bar in front and independent multi-link rear suspension with twin-tube shock absorbers and stabilizer bar rear. Steering is variable-ratio, speed-sensitive electronic power steering. Brakes are listed as electromechanically boosted four-wheel anti-lock disc brakes with electronic brake force distribution.
The interior is what you would call stark, with a big 15.4-inch touchscreen predominant the dashboard and an optional single slab of wood laid across the IP behind it.
Musk described it as a “ordinary clean design, because in the future cars will be increasingly autonomous so you won`t truly need to look at an instrument panel very often.»
The monster sunroof looms above the interior in the photo we got from Tesla. (All photos are from Tesla, btw.)
All of which is well and good, but when can you expect your Model Trio?
«The most common question I get on Twitter is, ‘Where is my Model Three?`” said Musk. «Sometimes it`s not phrased as nicely as that. We`re building cars as prompt as we can.»
Musk said production would ramp up to Ten,000 cars per week by the end of next year. It may ramp up leisurely because they want to get it right.
«We agonize over every detail, we care about every part of it,» he said. «How do we build a thick number of cars? Frankly, we`re gonna be in production hell. Welcome to production hell. That`s gonna be where we are for at least six months. If you`re going through hell, keep going.»
Will all this work? Will those hundreds of thousands of depositers get their cars? Will the door treats work? And what about Elon? Will he find happiness on Mars? There are a lot of questions still to be answered in the next gig of “As Tesla Turns.”
Mark Vaughn – West Coast Editor Mark Vaughn covers all car things west of the Mississippi from his Autoweek lair high above the LA metropolis.