Even though deliveries of Tesla’s highly anticipated Model 3 are scheduled to begin later this year, there’s still a lot we don’t know about Tesla’s mass market EV. Not only has Tesla been busy tweaking the car’s design over the past few months, but Tesla’s plans for the Model 3 instrument cluster still remain cloudy at best.
If you recall, this is the Model 3 interior Tesla showed off this past March.
Looks fine enough, but conspicuously absent are gauges for useful metrics like speed, range and other important vehicular data. Sure, there’s a decently sized 15-inch touchscreen in the center of the console, but Tesla assured everyone in April that everything about the design would make sense soon over the next few months.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk all but assured everyone that there would be subsequent Model 3 unveilings where new information and announcements about the car would be made. Of course, the only new piece of information we’ve gleaned since is that the Model 3 will come equipped with Tesla’s next-gen autonomous driving hardware. While an interesting tidbit, it wasn’t exactly the big reveal many were hoping for, especially given that some folks were eagerly anticipating an announcement of an HUD option for the Model 3.
This past November, Musk all but said that we’d learn more about the Model 3 in about 3-4 months time. Yesterday, though, Tesla relayed during its earnings conference call that we probably won’t see the next big Model 3 reveal until July, once pre-production begins. So whatever plans Tesla has in mind for the trunk, the steering wheel and the overall design of the Model 3, we’ll have to wait a few more months to see it.
Incidentally, Tesla said in its quarterly letter to shareholders that they’ve already begun building Model 3 prototypes.
“Model 3 vehicle development, supply chain and manufacturing are on track to support volume deliveries in the second half of 2017,” the letter reads in part. “In early February, we began building Model 3 prototypes as part of our ongoing testing of the vehicle design and manufacturing processes. Initial crash test results have been positive, and all Model 3-related sourcing is on plan to support the start of production in July. Installation of Model 3 manufacturing equipment is underway in Fremont and at Gigafactory 1, where in January, we began production of battery cells for energy storage products, which have the same form-factor as the cells that will be used in Model 3.”
