Tomorrow, at 2:30PM — set your watches, ladies and gentlemen — we’ll get our first look at the Tesla Motors Model 3. The Model 3 is the “affordable” Tesla, pegged to start at around US$35,000, and marks the first step into large-scale mass production for the Californian electric vehicle company.
But tomorrow’s launch won’t be all we learn; Tesla will keep some Model 3 secrets close to its chest until the car is nearer to its late-2017 production.
Tomorrow is Part 1 of the Model 3 unveil. Part 2, which takes things to another level, will be closer to production.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 30, 2016
[related title=”The New Tesla Motors Model 3″ tag=”tesla-model-3″ items=”5″]
Elon Musk (of Tesla, SpaceX, SolarCity and X.com fame) took to Twitter this morning to make another one of his many cryptic hints towards the Model 3 — this time saying that tomorrow’s event, where the new electric car will be unveiled and introduced to the world, will only be the first part. You’ll have to wait until 2017 (probably) to find out everything about the Model 3.
In essence, Musk is saying that you’ll see the Model 3 tomorrow, but that Model 3 will change — perhaps significantly — before it actually rolls out of the company’s Fremont factory and onto Californian (and eventually Australian) roads. What those changes will be are less than certain. But the Model 3 will also be there on the live-stream and at the event, so we’ll see our first glimpse of it then.
@rossbin You will see the car very clearly, but some important elements will be added and some will evolve.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 30, 2016
It is widely expected that there will be driveable prototypes at the Model 3 unveiling tomorrow, but “important elements” will be added before it reaches production. Those elements will likely not be big substantial changes to the thinginess of the car — maybe iterative changes to the drive battery or electric motors, but not significant changes in fundamental design.
Tesla’s Model S evolved between concept and production, but remained roughly the same size and shape. Like the Model S, the Model 3 will likely change slightly in the next two years but what is more possible is that the “elements” Tesla and Musk are talking about are a continuation of the company’s pioneering self-driving technology.
And elsewhere, electric vehicle fans the world over continue to worship at the altar of Musk:
ELON MUSK REPLIED TO ME
— Ross Bishop (@rossbin) March 30, 2016