Elon Musk had everyone clamoring for Twitter time this week, when he tweeted out a video with a first glimpse of Tesla’s Model 3.
Tesla had previously announced that the release of the much-anticipated vehicle would happen later this year, but Musk’s tweet had fans wondering if the release was being pushed up. His followers also wanted to know more details about the new model.
First drive of a release candidate version of Model 3 pic.twitter.com/zcs6j1YRa4
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2017
For his part, Musk responded by playing down some of the hype, saying the Model 3 is really just a smaller, more affordable model of the Model S. While the Model S comes in around $70,000, the Model 3 is priced at half-that, with an anticipated price tag of $35,000.
According to Musk, the Model 3 will maintain Tesla’s all-electric engine and signature sleek body lines, but with less range, power and fewer features. The Model 3 will also have the option for dual engines. The goal though, he stressed, isn’t to build a luxury car, but rather to make electric cars easily available to the masses.
Tesla is also working on a next gen Roadster, which will become the fastest car in the brand’s portfolio. In addition, the company is continuing work on achieving Level 4 automation — I.e. cars that are autonomous and can drive themselves, though humans remain in the seats to take over if necessary. They might have to speed up that progress though. As we told you earlier this week, BMW just announced plans to offer cars with Level 5 technology — completely driverless automobiles.
