And production of the Tesla Model 3 officially begins. Like a proud parent Elon Musk shared photos of his latest, more affordable electric sedan in a stately shade of black.
The first photo of production model number one was posted in black and white on Twitter. It was taken outside of Tesla’s factory plant in Fremont, California.
pic.twitter.com/is6Hthjjoj
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 9, 2017
“Production unit 1 of Model 3 is now built and going through final checkout. Pics soon,” Musk tweeted.
A few hours later he posted another photo in a side profile of the black beauty in full color. The setting sun reflects warmly against the 4-door sedan, the Tesla plant, and its surrounding foothills.
On July 28, 30 lucky owners will receive their cars at a special handover party. After that the general public who put down a $1,000 deposit will finally get behind the wheel of their electric vehicles.
So who owns SN1, the very first production Model 3? When asked, “Do you get the first of all the models?” by Drew Olanoff on Twitter, Musk responded.
“It’s the first to pay full price for the car. Hard rule. I have first Roadster and X, but not first S.”
Which certainly seems fair, however, that lucky person gifted it back over to Musk.
“Ira Ehrenpreis had rights to 1st car as he was 1st to place a full deposit, but gave those rights to me as my 46th bday present. Tks Ira!”
So, there you go — it is best to keep an eye on eBay and Bring a Trailer if you want a Model 3 before everyone else. Just expect to pay big bucks.
The Model 3 can seat five adults, has a 215-mile range, a 0-60 mph time of less than 6 seconds, and starts at $35,000 before tax incentives.
Now that production has started, delivery estimates for new reservations is mid-2018 or later.
