The Tesla Model 3 is Elon Musk’s first mass-market, affordable electric car, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a tricked out version up his sleeve.
At the company’s grand unveiling event for the Model 3, Musk announced that the new vehicle will have two distinct versions, a standard range and a long range version. The standard range will start at $35,000 and drive for up to 220 miles on a charge, while the long range will begin at $44,000 and get up to 310 miles, news that provoked a cheer from the audience. This is a stunning achievement, as the top-line Model S P100D only gets 315 miles on a single charge, for more than triple the price of the long range Model 3.
Additionally, the long range Model 3 will do 0-60 miles per hour in 5.1 seconds and have a top speed of 140 mph, a far cry from the Model S’s speed, but still pretty zippy for a sedan of that size. The standard model will do 0-60 in 5.6 seconds and have a 130 mph top speed. “It’s going to be a fast car,” Musk said, a callback to his famous line: “At Tesla, we don’t make slow cars,” from the vehicle’s first unveiling.
“I don’t think you’ll be able to find a better car, gasoline or electric, in that price range that is anywhere near as great,” Musk said.
The specs of each version on screen.
Musk officially debuted the company’s first affordably-priced electric vehicle, the Model 3, at a massive unveiling event outside the company’s Fremont factory on Friday night. Tesla sees the Model 3 as the first step in the company’s transition from a luxury car brand to an all-encompassing clean energy company that produces mass market vehicles in conjunction with individual solar power solutions and utility-scale energy storage. But on Friday, it was all about the Model 3.
