Elon Musk’s latest tweets: Tesla Model 3 coming, Model Y later

CleanTechnica

elon-musk-tesla

Accompanying the tweet of the video of a Model 3 release candidate going down a street, Tesla CEO Elon Musk also revealed several things about the Model 3 and Model Y.

To kick things off, he noted that a performance version of the Model 3 would be coming at some point, probably in ~1 year:

As I think we’ve been told before, the max battery size for the Model 3 will be 75 kWh for practical reasons:

Elon also responded that early deliveries of the Model 3 will be of the rear-wheel-drive (RWD) variant — as was the case with the launch of the Model S a few years back.

The reason for this is simple and expected: “minimizing configuration complexity to keep the production ramp on schedule.”

Here are the tweets in question:

So, to reiterate that for hopefully complete clarity: Early Tesla Model 3 deliveries will all be of the RWD variant. There won’t be any all-wheel-drive (AWD) variants delivered until after mass production is underway.

That said, Elon does hope that early reservation holders who want the AWD Model 3 variant will still qualify for the $7,500 US federal tax credit.

In related news, the Tesla CEO also revealed that the Model Y — the “affordable” crossover to be built on the same platform as the Model 3 — is still “a few years away” from release. So, those thinking that they are going to transfer a Model 3 reservation to a Model Y reservation may be banking on a mistaken notion (or maybe not).

Interesting news overall. I had assumed that the AWD variant of the Model 3 would be amongst the higher-trim offerings that are delivered first, but I guess not.

Since we’re on the subject, I have to ask: Are those who are interested in the Model Y still going to purchase one even if the model has falcon-wing doors (and no option for “regular” ones)? Or would that be a dealbreaker for some of you? While I’m inclined towards the extra interior space and higher ride of a crossover, I’m certainly not a fan of the falcon-wing doors.

In addition to the fun above, here’s a telling tweet regarding the Model S vs Model 3:

Lastly, yeah, the Model 3 will apparently compare with the Chevy Bolt well in the range category:

 

Source: CleanTechnica. Reproduced with permission.

Comments

5 responses to “Elon Musk’s latest tweets: Tesla Model 3 coming, Model Y later”

  1. john Avatar
    john

    As was outline before this Twitter exchange the Model list for Tesla was to be S3XY.
    It is good to see that it would appear Model Y is going to be produced and I expect by then a heap of BEV’s made by a lot of manufacturers.

  2. Brunel Avatar
    Brunel

    Bad decision. The showroom staff will be subject to crude/nude “jokes” now.

  3. RobSa Avatar
    RobSa

    Because of these tweets spread into this article I am unwilling to read it. Its too distracting and it interrupts the reading process.

    If I wanted to read the tweets I would go to Twitter. Why is Musk using Twitter to release this information? It seems like a very poor choice.

  4. Accent Avatar
    Accent

    How easy is it to install a 3rd-party HUD that simply shows speed and remaining range? Surely that is already available for the S and X.

  5. Miles Harding Avatar
    Miles Harding

    That’s about it for the Tesla model lineup: S 3 X Y !!

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