Tesla's chief executive, Elon Musk, said on Friday that when he handed over the top 30 models to staff buyers, the number of bookings for the Model 3 exceeded half. Laid the foundation for the biggest test of the company's strategy to become a profitable mass market electric vehicle manufacturer.
He looks at the mass market outside Tesla's Fremont factory in California.
Musk showed off the $35,000 base model for 220 miles (350 km), marking the difference between the company and early luxury electric vehicles. Mr.
Musk drove a red model 3 onto the stage and said Tesla had produced 50 vehicles so far, including 20 for testing purposes.
Hours before the event, Sir.
Musk admitted that it would be a "considerable challenge" to make the car in the early stages of production ".
"We will go through manufacturing Hell for at least six months ,"
Musk told reporters.
More than 373,000 of bookings have increased over the amount disclosed in April 2016.
The customer pays a refundable deposit of $1,000 for the car, which meets the conditions of the tax credit.
He said any new buyers could receive their cars by the end of 2018. Musk said. A longer-
The mileage version of the car is priced at $44,000 and will travel 310 miles (500 km kilometers) for a single charge ).
The car comes with a streamlined dashboard with no buttons or knobs, with 15-
Inch touch flow display on the right side of the driver.
Tesla is facing major obstacles in realizing the hype of Model 3.
Tesla commitment next year production of 500,000 a car is its 2016 a car yield of nearly six times.
If Tesla produces and sells 500,000 cars a year, the company may sell more cars in the United States than the BMW, Mercedes or Lexus brands.
Production delays and quality problems have disrupted the launch of Tesla's Model S and Model X cars, which blame production problems on shortages in the second quarter of this year. Mr.
Musk said the simpler Model 3 design would significantly reduce potential assembly --line problems.
Tesla had already consumed more than $2 billion in cash before it went public this year.
The problematic release of Model 3 may increase the risk of the company, although a stable delivery of Model 3 s may generate a lot of cash, allowing Tesla to avoid re-entering the capital market to fund its operations.
Due to the expected launch of Model 3, Tesla's share price has soared by 54% since January, and Tesla's expensive valuation now exceeds traditional competitors such as General Motors and Ford Motor.
So far, Tesla has been a niche producer of luxury electric vehicles, with an attractive showman CEO who often interacts with fans on Twitter accounts. Now loss-
Tesla is trying to enter a different alliance to build a large number of vehicles for its customers, just paying thousands of dollars more than the average price of traditional cars or trucks sold in the United States.
Model 3 is part of Mr.
Musk's broader plan to set up clean energy and transportation companies
Trailer, roof solar system and large-
Extended battery storage system.