Tesla Motors founder and CEO Elon Musk went on a little tweet spree late Sunday, sharing some additional info about the company's upcoming Model 3 car.
First, Musk tweeted that Tesla had received 276,000 pre-orders for Model 3 by the end of Saturday. At $1,000 per reservation, that's a $276 million cash infusion for the company and a potential $10 billion in sales (the number, of course, will vary depending on the number of dropped orders and the variants customers end up buying, with the cheapest Model 3 starting at $35,000).
SEE ALSO:What it's like to ride in the Tesla Model 3As if that weren't insane enough, Musk said that, if the current trend holds, the company might break 500,000 orders even before the second unveiling of the Model 3, which is promised for a later date.
@mindthreat @RyanHummer Yes, if the trend continues, before
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 3, 2016
The first Model 3 cars will be delivered to customers in late 2017. Musk said on Saturday the number of pre-orders was better than expected and that the company would have to ramp up production efforts to keep up with the demand.
@34thrain Maybe 1/4 to 1/2 of what happened. No one at Tesla thought it would be this high before part 2 of the unveil.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 2, 2016
On Sunday, Musk addressed some important questions about the car itself. Answering a question about the lack of dashboard behind the steering wheel (current Model 3 prototypes only have a 15-inch screen to the driver's right), Musk said this odd design choice will make sense once the production version of Model 3 is revealed.
@BValvsRacing It will make sense after part 2 of the Model 3 unveil
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 3, 2016
While we're not sure whether that means the car will more or less drive itself, or if some sort of amazing new HUD is in the works, Musk claims the steering controls and system of the Model 3 will feel "like a spaceship"
@HBL_Cosmin Wait until you see the real steering controls and system for the 3. It feels like a spaceship.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 3, 2016
And if you're in the camp that think the Model 3's front design is a bit too dull, Musk wrote "some tweaking" is underway, and even asked for design suggestions from users.
@gerardomarina Some tweaking underway
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 3, 2016
Other interesting tidbits from Musk's "impromptu Twitter AMA" session, as he called it, include hoping the Model 3 would have a 0.21 aerodynamic coefficient, dynamic adjustment of ride height (though this will likely cost customers extra), and space for two child seats (three if you buy slim seats).
Finally, and most importantly, Musk reiterated the Model 3 will have "more cowbells," referring to this legendary SNL sketch.
Signing off from impromptu Twitter AMA. Thanks for the suggestions. Btw, we really will have more cow bells.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 4, 2016
While we're not sure what this last bit means in actual car features, Musk's Q&A sessions highlight the advantages of Tesla's approach to the Model 3 launch. The fact that the car isn't done yet works in the company's favor, as it can soak in the customer feedback and tweak details that are disliked the most, and build even more buzz on the features people already love. As weird as that sounds, it looks like the wait for the Model 3 is going to be a fun one.
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TopicsTeslaCarsElon Musk
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