Tesla's budget-friendly Model 3 will be revealed next spring

[Shawn Knight]

Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently announced plans to unveil his company's highly-anticipated Model 3 electric sedan next spring after confirming its existence a year ago.

The budget-minded Model 3, which will be capable of traveling more than 200 miles on a single charge, is likely to be a pivotal turning point for Tesla. The company’s current Model S starts at $69,000 while pre-orders for the Signature Series of its upcoming Model X SUV require a $40,000 deposit with pricing starting at $132,000.

The Model 3 will start at $35,000.

Production of Tesla’s budget-friendly electric sedan is still about two years away, Musk revealed, adding that its Gigafactory needs to be fully operational first.

For those not up to speed (no pun intended), the Gigafactory is the name of the massive battery production facility that Tesla is currently building in Nevada with help from Panasonic. Once complete, the $5 billion facility will be the largest and most advanced of its kind in the world.

Tesla said it’ll be capable of producing 50 gigawatt-hours of battery packs per year. That’s enough to build half a million electric vehicles annually but perhaps more importantly for the local economy, it’ll create 6,500 new jobs and have an economic impact of nearly $100 billion over the next 20 years.

The Model X, meanwhile, will roll into owners’ garages starting September 29.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/61995-tesla-budget-friendly-model-3-revealed-next-spring.html

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

70 large is not exactly my idea of a budget ride but It's probably still going to be a very nice heap.

 

[Reetin]

70 large is not exactly my idea of a budget ride but It's probably still going to be a very nice heap.

The model S is 70K, the Model 3 (the budget one) is going to be around 35K. Hope that clears it up!

 

[mosu]

Tesla Gigafactory should be headed towards Lithium iron phosphate battery instead of Li Ion or LiPolymer

 

[EEatGDL]

70 large is not exactly my idea of a budget ride but It's probably still going to be a very nice heap.

Skimming the article then commenting, right?

 

[oldikes]

Shawn you literally say no pun intended in the majority of your articles when you clearly intend the puns...

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Skimming the article then commenting, right?

Lol. How did you guess?

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

The model S is 70K, the Model 3 (the budget one) is going to be around 35K. Hope that clears it up!

I was just skimming through the article, not reading it properly then I wound up putting my foot in it (again).
That said 35 large is still not budget by any means but it's probably not bad for a Tesla.

 

[Uncle Al]

$35K is getting closer, but until they can get under the $30K mark, it's really not a "budget" vehicle and limiting it to just 200 miles will restrict it to local and short term trips only, which misses the mark in my book. So the goal needs to be under $30K and over 400 miles with 4-5 passengers, and then you've got a car for the masses. Tesla's got some great idea's and with more growth and greater sales they will get there. Now it's just a matter of time to see if I'll be able to buy one before I'm too old to drive!

 

[captaincranky]

I see Mr. Elon "think big" Musk has gotten his hand into Matsushita's back pocket.

I'm starting to catch on to his system. Just give everything "BIG NAMES" and wait in the bushes for the investors to fill your hat..

First he trades on Nicolai Tesla's name, then he keeps introducing cars to be released later.

Now, the battery factory will be called "Giga", and everyone sort of instinctively knows that "giga" means "big".

How are we going to charge all those batteries Elon"? I guess that will be someone else's problem. Maybe that will be where some of the 6000 supposed jobs will come from, shoveling coal into the corner power plant.

 

[EEatGDL]

Lol. How did you guess?

Haha, I was expecting a flame war after my comment. Good you took it the nice way

 

[captaincranky]

Did I hear somebody say "flame war"? And without inviting me no less?

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Haha, I was expecting a flame war after my comment. Good you took it the nice way

Why? You were stating the truth. I did just skim through the article, then put my foot in it with another silly comment.

 

[seefizzle]

I see Mr. Elon "think big" Musk has gotten his hand into Matsushita's back pocket.

I'm starting to catch on to his system. Just give everything "BIG NAMES" and wait in the bushes for the investors to fill your hat..

First he trades on Nicolai Tesla's name, then he keeps introducing cars to be released later.

Now, the battery factory will be called "Giga", and everyone sort of instinctively knows that "giga" means "big".

How are we going to charge all those batteries Elon"? I guess that will be someone else's problem. Maybe that will be where some of the 6000 supposed jobs will come from, shoveling coal into the corner power plant.

Actually Tesla has introduced and plans on selling $3,500 battery packs for solar panel installations on homes. I think Tesla is trying to change the world with solar power. If there's something to be cranky about, it's not the things that Tesla is working on.

 

[captaincranky]

Actually Tesla has introduced and plans on selling $3,500 battery packs for solar panel installations on homes. I think Tesla is trying to change the world with solar power. If there's something to be cranky about, it's not the things that Tesla is working on.

"If there's something to be "cranky" about". Is that your idea of a clever pun?

I've had this argument before about these battery walls. They use more energy than they give back, due to losses in charging.. Which makes any energy savings then incumbent on the homeowner to install solar panels or windmills or whatever, to provide the electricity. Basically, your house becomes one big smartphone, and you have one more huge expense for the "charger". Then the money for the battery pack, goes into Musk's pocket.

He's basically the Kim Kardashian of the tech world. I really appreciated it when he announced "we could have a flying car within a year". Something which has been done over and over, since 1947. He's a camera w*****, and a pickpocket, along with being a snake oil salesman.

Then Mr. Musk has skipped and yapped his way from "colonies on Mars", to "flying cars", to "supersonic subways", to another Tesla "to be named later".

His latest "supersonic subway", requires cars that run inside tubes. One has to wonder how much metal would need to be smelted for a cross country route, and how much air pollution would be caused during the smelting process. Hey wait! Maybe we could run the arc furnaces off his battery packs.

You call him a visionary. I call him a sociopath, with paranoid delusions of godhood.

I'm glad we took the opportunity to have this little chat.

 

[stbecker]

I'm a big fan of clean/green/electric transportation. Tesla, Zero Motorcycles, you name it. But my large SUV at Interstate speeds has a range of 500+ miles. That's about double the range of electric. And I can completely fill in 5 minutes.

I get it, battery swap is coming. And range is increasing. For me, the gap is just too big right now.