The First Tesla Model 3 Buyers Will Get Their Cars This Month

By Chris Chase

Jul 4, 2017

Summary

Smaller car, bigger goals

Tesla's Elon Musk has confirmed his company will deliver the first examples of its compact Model 3 to buyers later this month.

The overachieving entrepreneur made the announcement via Twitter, where he wrote that production of the brand's most affordable vehicle yet would begin July 7, and that Tesla would host a handover party for the first 30 buyers on July 28.

It's reassuring news both for Musk and fans of the Tesla brand, after the start of Model 3 production was delayed multiple times in recent months.

According to the Washington Post, Tesla has ambitious plans for a car it says will come in at a starting price of $35,000USD: the company says it will crank out 1,500 cars in September, with a goal of making 20,000 units per month by the end of 2017. The last time Tesla released order numbers -- in May 2016 -- it revealed 373,000 people had put down $1,000 to reserve a Model 3.

The Model 3 promises nearly 350 km of driving from a charge of its battery pack, with options including drive motors optimized for either city or highway driving.

We don't yet know what the Model 3's price will be in Canada, but expect the car to be eligible for generous rebates available in the provinces of Ontario ($14,000), Quebec ($8,000) and British Columbia ($5,000).

Meet the Author

As a child, Chris spent most of his time playing with toy cars in his parents’ basement or making car sounds while riding his bicycle. Now he's an award-winning Algonquin College Journalism grad who has been playing with real cars that make their own noises since the early 2000s.