The newly unveiled Model 3 spells out a fresh chapter in Tesla's evolution, but it won't be without risks for the electric-car maker.
Despite all of its innovation, Tesla has often been crowded out by a pretty big elephant: timing. Whether Tesla can bring a production version of the Model 3 to market on schedule in late 2017 remains to be seen.
All of Tesla's previous vehicles — the Roadster, the Model S, and the Model X SUV — arrived late, for various reasons.
During the unveiling on Thursday night, CEO Elon Musk expressed his hopes that the Model 3 would meet its target production date, while adding a slight caveat (emphasis ours): "I do feel fairly confident that it will be next year," he said.
People want these cars — badly
Demand for Teslas has always been high, but now it has officially gone through the roof. If Model 3 preorders are any indication, the automaker has a hefty workload on its hands.
In less than 48 hours after the debut, Tesla took more than 230,000 preorders worldwide, at a time when the company operates two engineering and manufacturing facilities in California and another plant in the Netherlands.
Those Model 3 orders will multiply exponentially between now and the latter half of 2017.
And that doesn't take into account the slate of orders Tesla already has for the Models S and X.
Building the cars
Musk argued that the Fremont, California, factory, which previously produced various General Motors and Toyota vehicles, is capable of cranking out about 500,000 vehicles a year — and that's the target Tesla wants to hit by 2020.
Tesla already builds its Model S and Model X vehicles in that plant, though not quite in those six-figure quantities. The company tends to sell every car it builds, and in 2015 it delivered just over 50,000 vehicles, which was the low end of its goal.
Still, Musk seemed hopeful that his company could reach a 500,000 annual target in the next 3 1/2 years. "That's going to be, I wouldn't say straightforward, but very doable," he said Thursday.
Making the batteries
Tesla's Gigafactory plays a significant role in its quest for high-volume production.
The Reno-based battery plant will "produce more lithium-ion batteries than all other factories in the world combined, in just one location." Musk said.
The facility, which the CEO says is already operational, sets the stage for Tesla to meet the ravenous demand for its full lineup of cars — as long as everything goes according to Tesla's "Top Secret Master Plan."
