Musk Unveils New Tesla Model 3 - Dispatch Weekly

Elon Musk has finally rolled out the first Model 3 with the launch party scheduled to take place on the 28th of July. This new Tesla has the potential to shake up the electric car industry, boasting a more affordable $35,000 price tag and the ability to drive over 215 miles on one charge. As well as incorporating all the on-board technology previous pricier Models S and X had, including a pseudo auto-drive system, the car itself is said to go from zero to 60 miles per hour in 5.6 seconds. This makes it faster than a BMW 3 series.

Musk believes that by the end of 2017 he will have cracked autonomous vehicles. A new smart computer, eight surround cameras, twelve ultrasonic sensors, and a forward radar have been added to the Model 3 to improve the auto-pilot’s capabilities. A $3000 add-on to enable the full autopilot will be sold with the vehicle; however, as of this moment this feature is not available.

Although Tesla hasn’t released a full specification list of features yet, and won’t do so until the launch party on the 28th, the car already appears to be set to change the industry. With no traditional dashboard “clutter”, the model will feature a touch screen central panel that deals with everything from satnav to the speedometer, a super-fast charging system, and a design that adheres to a 5 star safety rating.

Tesla Model 3

Already, the vehicle has made Tesla approximately half a billion dollars from the deposit scheme, which allowed around 400,000 consumers  the chance to pay $1000 for the right to purchase the model upon release. However, this unveiling comes after a turbulent week for Tesla, when stock prices dropped by 15% after fears that the company wouldn’t be able to deliver on production targets. Musk has already lowered the targets from the December target of 40,000 models to 20,000, citing a shortage in the lithium-ion batteries required as the cause for the production cut.

Despite the decrease in projections, Tesla has set very ambitious targets, planning to slowly ramp up the production schedule of these cars until the rate of production has doubled by the six month mark, and quintupled by the 12^th month.Meeting production projections would mean that Tesla would top the production of electric battery-powered cars of all automakers combined in 2016.

Tesla Model X

In the hopes of making the vehicle more accessible across America, Musk has promised to increase the number of charging points for the car. His aim is to double the number of rapid charging points in the US, from 5,000 up to 10,000 and increase the number of slow charging points from 9,000 to 15,000, making the vehicle more accessible across America.

The roll out of the Model 3 will be slower than previous launches; ensuring the release of the car is not as disastrous as that of the Model X, in which misaligned body parts, software issues, and a seatbelt problem resulted in a fleet wide recall. Musk has said that the dual-motor all-wheel drive, extended range, larger battery, and other higher performance versions of the Model 3 will be released six to nine months later than the base model so as to avoid any complications.

If Tesla is able to build, distribute, and maintain the number of vehicles that their targets dictate without compromising on the quality, then there is nothing stopping the model 3 from becoming the world’s first electric car for the masses.