A week ago, Tesla VP of Business Development Diarmuid O’Connel said in a speech in Amsterdam that Model 3 preorders are approaching 400,000 units. That’s a remarkable achievement for the company, whose aim is to sell 500,000 cars by 2020. But new comments from Tesla CEO Elon Musk seem to suggest the excitement around the affordable Model 3 electric car may have died down.
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Speaking at a conference in Norway, Musk mentioned the same number – “almost 400,000” – as offered a week ago. “We are now almost at 400,000 orders for the Model 3,” Musk said, according to Reuters. The CEO added that the interest in Model 3 “surprised even us,” without offering a precise number.
On April 7th, a week into Model 3 preorders, Tesla said it received over 325,000 reservations. Considering O’Donnel and Musk’s comments, it looks like Tesla may have taken up to 75,000 Model 3 preorders in the two weeks since that April 7th announcement. The drop in preorders is probably expected following the massive preorder surge. After all, Tesla is selling a car not a new iPhone; a car that might pose several manufacturing issues. The Model 3 will only be available to buyers in the coming years, and it’ll be interesting to see how fast Tesla can build them.
The interest in Model 3 at launch was surprising, with thousands of potential buyers having preordered their models without even seeing the car, or knowing its features. It’s also worth remembering these are just $1,000 reservations, which means buyers could always change their minds by the time Tesla can deliver the vehicles on time.
In case you’re looking to place your Model 3 preorder, you can still do it on Tesla’s official page.
