Given Tesla’s checkered past when it comes to meeting production deadlines, you could be forgiven for thinking that Tesla wouldn’t be able to meet its Model 3 production schedule. But in a sign that Tesla has learned from previous mistakes with the Model S and the Model X, the first Model 3 — as initially promised — rolled off of the production line this weekend, an event that Tesla CEO Elon Musk celebrated with a pair of tweets.
The first photo is below.
First Production Model 3 pic.twitter.com/TCa2NSUNI3
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 9, 2017
And a second one for good measure.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 9, 2017
Now as to who the lucky owner of the first Model 3 is, well, it’s none other than Musk himself. Not to worry, Musk didn’t gift himself the car. On the contrary, it was given to him as a birthday gift by Tesla board member Ira Ehrenpreis.
According to Musk, first dibs on any new Tesla vehicle goes to the first person who pays for it in full. That said, Musk relayed via Twitter that he was the first owner to receive the Roadster and the Model X, but not the Model S.
It's who is first to pay full price for the car. Hard rule. I have first Roadster and X, but not first S.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 9, 2017
Ira Ehrenpreis had rights to 1st car as he was 1st to place a full deposit, but gave those rights to me as my 46th bday present. Tks Ira!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 9, 2017
With the Model 3 production line already in operation, the next big Model 3 event is slated for July 28 where Tesla will deliver the next 30 vehicles to early reservation holders. Additionally, the event is where Tesla will presumably give the public a closer and crisper look at what the shipping Model 3 is going to look like.
Priced at $35,000, the Model 3 represents Tesla’s first effort at shipping a mass market car. That being the case, it will be interesting to see if Tesla can ramp up production in a timely fashion in order to meet staggering demand. While Tesla hasn’t released an official tally of Model 3 reservations, it’s believed that the current figure falls somewhere in the 400,000 range. Further, Musk said during a recent earnings conference call that the cumulative number of Model 3 reservations continues to rise each and every month.
Production wise, Musk said that Tesla is hoping to churn out upwards of 20,000 Model 3 vehicles per month by December of this year. By 2018, Musk is hoping to double that figure to 40,000 units.
