Tesla delivers the first 30 Model 3 vehicles: Leaves many more pondering – when?

It’s been 484 days since Telsa announced their first small car which would be also be their first mass production vehicle. Tonight at the back of their California Factory, Tesla delivered the first 30 Model 3’s to customers.

50 were made this month, with 20 to be used as engineering evaluation vehicles, but with 30 in the hands of owners there is a bigger more important question circling the globe – “when will I get mine?”.

Elon Musk’s presentation tonight was short, and very simple.  There was no in-depth look at the car, nor was there a whole lot of detail about the production schedule. Musk hopes to ramp production to 5,000 cars per week by the end of 2017 and talked about production at 10,000 a week or half a million cars per year, but didn’t give a timeline on that.

To meet the expected pre orders would require a serious scale up in production, something Musk himself described as “hell” but he was committed to going through that hell to get to the optimum levels.

At the end of the presentation Musk stated that new orders now would likely receive their cars at the end of 2018, indicating that that scale is certainly within their plan.

What is not known is if he is talking globally or just locally in the US.  There are certifications to pass all around the world, and if the Model X is anything to go by that can take some time here in Australia.

So if you’re an Aussie on the list (like me), don’t hold your breath.

But at the same time, you might want to be planning the budget to see how you’re going to afford the $60,000 car you’re so keen to own, and once you option it up don’t be surprised at an $80k drive away price tag.

Additional pricing is also now available, with the entry level Model 3 at $35,000 (USD) while the “Long-Range” Model 3 will start at $44,000.

Those US pricing roughly equate to less than $50,000 and around $63,000 – that’s before any local taxes and drive away pricing.

The Long-Range model will cover almost 500km on a single charge, while the Standard Model 3 will do just over 350km.  Stunning range given the likely price.

All of that though is speculation, as we await an official local launch which will likely still be another twelve months away.