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Everything we know about Tesla's next car
With federal and state incentives, Bloomberg estimates that the Model 3 could end up costing as little as $25,000 in some states.
But before tax credits, the Model 3 is even more affordable than General Motor's Chevrolet Bolt EV, which prices at $37,500 before incentives.
This is significant because the Bolt is expected to pose serious competition to the Model 3: GM's car will have a similar range and will launch ahead of the Model 3.
Musk said in February that there will be no Signature Series for the new vehicle, meaning there will be no premium version that requires a greater deposit.
In February, Musk said the Model 3 would not have as many features as previous Tesla vehicles.
"I'm pretty happy with how that is turning out. We're going to constrain the number of the new features in the Model 3, compared to the Model X, in order to avoid repeating the same mistakes. So with each successive year we will introduce more things into the Model 3, instead of trying to compile it all into one year," Musk said during a Tesla event in Chambourcy, France.
Musk didn't specify what the company will leave out of the Model 3. However, there's a good chance that the car won't have the Falcon Wing doors featured in the Model X.
Musk said in October via Twitter that either the Model X or Model Y would have Falcon Wing doors. But given the delays the doors caused with the Model X, there's a good chance we will have to wait to see them on the Model Y.
Just because the Model 3 won't have everything the model S and Model X has doesn't mean it still won't be an impressive car.
According to a report from EVObsession, CTO JB Straubel said during a presentation last week that the the Model 3 "will surprise people with the level of features it includes."
Straubel also said that the new car will feature "next generation" Tesla technology. So we can expect some bells and whistles. For example, it's possible that the Model 3 will include the hardware for Autopilot, which is Tesla's semi-autonomous system. Buyers would still have to pay extra to enable the system, but we could see Tesla including the hardware simply because Autopilot is such a big focus for the company right now.
Musk said in November that Autopilot was "super high priority" and he has also previously said that self-driving cars are the future.
Given Straubel's comments about the car having more features than expected, it seems likely that Tesla will also keep the 17-inch dashboard display in the Model 3.
Also, as Electrek's Seth Weintraub points out, the cost of designing a newer, less expensive middle stack could actually end up costing Tesla more money than going with the design they already use.
The Model 3 is expected to be about 20% percent smaller than the Model S, which comes at about 16.3 feet long and 4.7 feet high. Straubel gave some more details regarding its size last week when he said the Model 3 will be similar in size to the Audi A4.
Staubel said last year that Tesla intends to use the Model 3 platform for a variety of vehicles, including a crossover.
In October, Musk posted a tweet confirming that there would also be a Model Y, which is expected to be a crossover of the Model 3. However, he later deleted the tweet. Still, we can expect to see more Tesla cars built using the Model 3 as a foundation.
Musk has repeatedly said the company aims to begin production in 2017. Musk reiterated that timeline when he spoke in France at a Tesla event last month.
"We will try to stay as close as possible to our end of 2017 start of production," he said. "But based on where we are right now, I feel really good about the Model 3."
Tesla's Model S 70D has a range of 240 miles per charge, according to the Environmental Protection Agency's ratings. It's speculated that the battery for the Model 3 will fall somewhere between 50 kWh to 70 kWh, so we can expect to see a similar range for the new sedan.
Because of China's high demand for eco-friendly cars, the country will become a key market for Tesla in the coming years, Musk told CNN earlier this year.
However, all of the Tesla vehicles currently sold in China come with a very high import duty. So Tesla will begin producing the Model 3 and other vehicles it sells in the region in China so that it can get access to local incentives in China.
"It will eventually be made in China," Musk said. "If it was possible to do local production in China sooner, we would, but I think it is going to be close to three years before we can achieve that outcome."
It should be noted that production in China will be in addition to Tesla US production operations, not replacing it.
You can place your order on March 31 at Tesla dealers, or you can pre-order online beginning April 1. A deposit of $1,000 is required to pre-order the vehicle.
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