The Model 3 will cost 35,000 dollars (£24,423) and have a range of at
least 215 miles (346km) per charge, the company's chief executive, Elon
Musk, said. PA
Tesla Motors has unveiled its Model 3 sedan at a glitzy event in Los
Angeles, the fourth production car to be released by Elon Musk's
electric car company.
Only hours after the big reveal, over 115,000 pre-orders had been made for the lower-priced Model 3, Tesla claimed.
It's 'cheap'
Well, it's comparatively
cheap. A Model S, Tesla's higher-end saloon, starts at £58,500 and goes
up to £87,300 for the fastest version. The Model X, the company's
electric SUV, is expected to start at £65,000 when it launches in the
UK.
By comparison, the cheapest Model 3 will cost
$35,000. That comes out to around £25,000 at current exchange rates,
below the average price for a new car in the UK, although the actual
price may vary slightly.
The Model 3
will make Tesla cars affordable for more people, and judging by the
popularity of their other vehicles, they could sell quickly.
It'll go 215 miles on a single charge
That's
the mileage on the basic model, according to Musk. More expensive
versions of the Model 3 will likely have bigger batteries, increasing
their range.
By comparison, Nissan's £26,500 30kWh Leaf gets 155 miles on a single charge.
The
Model 3 might still not be practical for cross-country road trips, but
for the price it blows other electric cars out the water when it comes
to mileage.
It's fast
Musk said the base model will do 0-60mph in less than six seconds, although pricier versions will go quicker.
Tesla dispelled a lot of the stereotypes about
electric cars going slow with the Model S, and clearly they're trying
to keep some of that in the Model 3.
You might actually be able to charge it on the road
The
main thing holding electric cars back is the lack of charging points.
Tesla knows this, which is why it's planning to expand its network of
'Supercharging' stations worldwide.
The
Superchargers are power points which can fully charge Tesla cars in
minutes, not hours. They're capable of charging the Model X's 90kWh
battery from dead to 100 per cent in 75 minutes, so it's fair to assume
that the Model 3's smaller battery will charge quicker.
A handout photo provided on April 1, 2016 by Tesla Motors
shows the car manufacturer's new Model 3 which was unveiled on March 31,
and is scheduled to hit the market late next year. AFP/Getty Images
It's still not as fast as filling a tank up
with petrol, but a half-hour pit stop on a long trip isn't an enormous
inconvenience. There's around 30 Supercharger stations spread across the
UK, but Tesla wants to increase this number by the time the car
launches.
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