400,000 orders received since March 31, 2016
Tesla unveiled its Model 3 compact sedan on the last day or March 2016. ‘Well received’ is an understatement as 400,000 reservations have been placed thus far. Most surprisingly, over 24% of all orders were received in the first 24 hours of opening up reservations.
There are other developments that are causing CEO Elon Musk and Tesla worry. Sales of the Model S are up 45% compared to the first year and the Model X is just starting to take off after issues with suppliers were addressed. All of these issues are causing the company to take a second look at their production strategy.
Of all the issues facing Tesla, the most public issue pertains to the Model 3, the company’s first product designed for the masses that will have a starting price of $3,500, before incentives. The Model 3 is expected to offer the best maximum range of any electric vehicle in its segment. Recent prototypes of the Model 3 show a vehicle that is close to being production-ready with small details having yet to be addressed.
Experts say that the biggest remaining issue regarding the Model 3 has to do with the interior. Observers have commented about a lack of instrument cluster but Elon Musk, CEO has not really made it an issue saying “it will all make sense after the second presentation”. As of this writing, additional information about this ‘second presentation’ has not been found online.
Speculators are of two different opinions. The first is that the Model 3 will be packed with autonomous features rendering an instrument cluster useless. The second is that the Model 3 is using a new type of digital dashboard that incorporates a heads up display and some other yet-to-be-unnamed technologies.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla who is also known for very aggressive goals and a take-no-prisoners approach to meeting those goals has defined a date when everything needs to be completed by, June 30. At the time of this writing, we are less than two months away from Mr. Musk’s deadline.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HOhOeKwe30