Are you ready for "the car that might change the world," according to Bloomberg? No, it's not a flying car or even a self-driving car. It's the Tesla Model 3.
And Tesla CEO Elon Musk will unveil it to the world Thursday at his company's design studio in California.
Tesla 3 is the long-awaited attempt by the luxury electric-car maker to come up with a vehicle for the US mainstream, one that is intended to launch Tesla into the ranks of mass-market automobile companies and, if you listen to Musk and his backers, also revolutionize automotive transportation as we know it.
The idea is that Model 3, with a sticker price of $35,000 before federal and state incentives and an all-electric range of up to 300,000 miles, will finally bring the highest-quality and best-performing type of EV into the financial wheelhouse of the average American consumer. And, therefore, US consumers will snap up Model 3's even in the midst of $2-a-gallon gasoline scenario, which is keeping a determined lid on sales of nearly all other electric vehicles at the moment.
"The Model 3 is really the measure if Tesla is going to make it long-term as a car company," Jessica Caldwell, analyst for Edmunds.com, told Industry Week. "If they want to bring the EV to the mass market, they need the Model 3 to be successful."
Indeed, Model 3's sticker price will be about half that of the cheapest Model S, the highly regarded, premium EV that gained Tesla its reputation as a world-beater in the first place. Model S and Tesla's first SUV, the new Model X, commonly sell for more than $100,000.
In fact, Musk and Tesla are trying to persuade consumers that despite the mid-market price point, Model 3 is something of a luxury vehicle anyway, a challenge Bloomberg called "conquer[ing] low-end luxury."
"If the $35,000 Model 3 retains some of the performance and design thrills that have become Tesla's trademark, gasoline savings will be just another perk for the brochure," Bloomberg gushed. "We'll soon know more."
More will be clear on Thursday when Musk unveils the car, but it's difficult to see how Model 3 could provide, say, the same amenities or level of performance as a Model S. Musk has said it will be roomy, though, with about as much interior space as an Audi A4, a solidly mid-size luxury sedan.
But Model 3 won't be available until the end of next year in the US, and in 2018 in Europe, though would-be buyers are already raising their hands by putting down the required $1,000 deposit.
In the meantime, General Motors has its own plans for the middle-market EV crowd, with its also-heralded Chevrolet Bolt, a $30,000 vehicle (before government incentives) that's supposed to provide an all-EV range of 200 miles. And Bolt will have the advantage of being introduced about a year before the Model 3.
Another obstacle to Model 3's commercial success is that its preferred business model, selling directly to consumers, is prohibited in six states that, according to the Wall Street Journal, represent about 18 percent of the US new-car market. Tesla is preparing, the newspaper said, to make a federal case against those bans, which protect the vast traditional-dealer networks used by all other automakers that collectively employ hundreds of thousands of Americans and are independent businesses owned by entrepreneurs who are unusually well-connected politically.
Yet another challenge for Tesla—as well as for Bolt and other EVs—is the fact that the standard federal electric-vehicle tax credit amounts to a $7,500 rebate, but this credit will start to shrink once a manufacturer sells 200,000 of the relevant cars for use in the US. If Bolt, Model 3 or both reach that kind of mainstream-like sales level, it'll automatically reduce their price appeal. Plus, additional state-level incentives are expiring in some places, such as Georgia, where a $5,000 credit ends June 30.
Meanwhile, Tesla is also rolling out a new valet service to facilitate charging at its Supercharger network of fast-charging stations in California and possibly elsewhere. And as far as the Superchargers are concerned, another unanswered question is whether Model 3 buyers will also get free access to the charging network as Model S and Model X owners do, though originally this was a $2,000 option.
All of this has caused quite a bit of excitement already for Andreas Stephens, an Australian man whom Mashable reported was first in line at a Tesla dealership in Sydney on Tuesday morning, more than 48 hours before he could put down is deposit.
"I wanted to make sure that [I was] number one," he said.
Source: Ready for Its Close-Up: Elon Musk to Unveil Tesla Model 3 This Week
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