Tesla has broken a record for the largest one-week product launch ever after opening reservations for its Model 3 sedan on Friday, April 1. In a blog posted April 7, the electric car company confirmed that it has received more than 325,000 reservations for the $35,000 car.
Delivering all of those vehicles will requiring leveraging the massive Gigafactory, now in the early stages of operation in Nevada. Some pundits are concerned that the large response will swamp the battery-powered automaker, which anticipates deliveries of the Model S to begin in late 2017 starting on the West Coast.
Tesla Motors calls this “the week that electric vehicles went mainstream” because of the customer response. They also noted their complete lack of advertising: “…this has been a true grassroots effort driven by the passion of the Tesla team that’s worked so hard to get to this point and our current and future customers who believe so strongly in what we are trying to achieve.”
The Model 3 boasts a 215 mile range and can accelerate from zero to 60 mph in less than six seconds. The front forgoes the Model S’s large grille for a tight-lipped curve that matches the interior. Early concepts of the dash – Musk says this isn’t necessarily the final design – show a single screen and a completely empty dashboard.
Musk discusses Tesla as part of a larger push for cleaner energy. Today, his company SolarCity announced that they have produced 8 million kilowatt-hours in a single day from solar panels, enough to charge the 107,000 Teslas on the road today.