Tesla On Track to Debut More Affordable Model 3 in March

November 4, 2015 thawngno

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Tesla on Tuesday said it’s on track to deliver its more affordable Model 3 electric car in March, though for now it’s focused on delivering up to 19,000 of its pricier vehicles by year’s end.

“We are on track to unveil Model 3 in late March 2016,” the company said in a shareholder letter. The $35,000 vehicle is aimed at middle-class shoppers who want the Tesla experience without the Model S‘s $70,000 price tag.

But while Tesla will provide details about the Model 3 in March, the EV—which boasts a range of more than 200 miles on a single charge—probably won’t officially arrive until 2017. The car can’t go into production until Tesla’s Nevada Gigafactory is up and running.

Tesla has “accelerated plans to begin cell production…at the Gigafactory by the end of 2016, [which] is several quarters ahead of our initial plan,” the letter said.

This quarter, however, saw the official debut of the Model X SUV (pictured). The car comes with Falcon Wing doors and three rows of seating for seven people. A few early buyers are already driving their SUVs; everyone else should get them in the second half of 2016.

Overall, Tesla delivered a record 11,603 cars during the quarter. Tesla aims to boost production in Q4, hoping to deliver 17,000 to 19,000 vehicles by year’s end bring its annual total to upwards of 52,000.

“Our customers drove their cars almost 250 million miles this quarter, for a total of nearly 1.5 billion miles to date,” Tesla said. “We are looking forward to the day when we can tell you how far our [autonomous] cars have driven our customers, and to the introduction of many more innovative products manufactured and sold globally.”