Elon Musk said in a tweet last week that he would have breaking news about the release date of the Tesla Model 3 on Sunday.
News on Sunday
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 30, 2017
Well, he lied, just a little bit, as he was busy in the meantime tweeting about his outspoken love for floors and the direction the earth is moving, “up”. Finally, on Monday, he snapped out of deep contemplation and announced that the Tesla Model 3 would be delivered on July 28 to the first special orders from SpaceX and Tesla employees.
Model 3 passed all regulatory requirements for production two weeks ahead of schedule. Expecting to complete SN1 on Friday
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 3, 2017
So Tesla is ahead of schedule, but probably not under budget. Elon Musk went on to describe further details on deliveries. After shipment number one, which will be more like a company handover party, production will grow exponentially, with 100 cars delivered in August, 1,500 in September, and 20,000 deliveries in December. They have a lot of catching up to do, as they need to fulfill at least 400,000 pre-orders as of right now. The biggest limiting factor to Model 3 production will be battery pack production.
The starting price for the Tesla Model 3 will be $35,000 before incentives. New reservations have a delivery date of mid-2018 or later. More information can be found at the Tesla Model 3 website.