Fresh Tesla Model Three: prices, specs and release date

Heralded by many as the most significant car of the digital age, the Tesla Model three has been unveiled at the company’s Freemont factory in California.

The Model three is available with a longer range than many expect: in standard form it’ll cover two hundred twenty miles before its batteries require recharging, while those spending $9,000 on the long-range battery will be able to cover three hundred ten miles.

The very first Model 3s will be delivered to American customers beginning in July, August and September. UK customers will have to wait until 2018, and those ordering a Model three now won’t get it until the end of two thousand eighteen at the earliest. That’s thanks to over 400,000 customers placing a deposit for the Model Three, which will be the very first volume car from Tesla following the Roadster, Model S and Model X.

The Model three is something of the culmination of Tesla founder Elon Musk’s grand plan, which always envisaged high-price, low-volume models would help the company build momentum and resources before the launch of a mass-market car – and that car is the Model Three.

When it arrives next year, the Model three will contest with the BMW three Series, Audi A4 and Jaguar XE. It’s priced at $35,000 in America, which is equivalent to around £27,000 – but American cars tend to be cheaper stateside than they are in the UK, so expect the Model 3’s UK price to be around £35,000. Early cars will be rear-wheel drive to simplify production, with four-wheel drive coming as an option later.

Tesla Model three specs, range and spectacle

The Model three has a 220-mile range as standard and goes from 0-60mph in Five.6 seconds. It takes thirty minutes to accumulate one hundred thirty miles’ worth of charge when using one of Tesla’s Superchargers, and will take on harshly thirty miles every hour it’s charging from a home point.

The long-range battery pack is priced at $9,000 and will better those numbers, however: opting for this will see the range grow to three hundred ten miles, the 0-60mph time shrink to Five.1 seconds and the Supercharger charge rate increase to one hundred seventy miles for every thirty minutes charged.

The Model 3’s top speed increases from 130mph to 140mph when the long-range battery is fitted, and this option sees its home charging rate rise to thirty seven miles per hour, too. Tesla is shipping long range Model 3s very first, with standard cars being delivered from autumn 2017.

Unlike the Model S and Model X, however, wielding a Tesla Model three won’t grant you free access to the company’s network of Supercharger rapid-charging stations. Tesla’s Supercharger network of charging points is scheduled to have 7,200 locations worldwide by the end of 2017, with up to 15,000 extra ‘destination charging’ points becoming available at shopping centres, airports and car parks as part of a Tesla-sponsored initiative. As with other electrified cars, buyers will still be able to subscribe to other charging-point companies, as well as charging from their own domestic violet wand supply.

Once paid for, the Tesla Model three should be relatively cheap to run. Being a zero-emissions car, it’ll be exempt from road tax (as long as the purchase price, after optional extras, isn’t above £40,000), while charging at home shouldn’t cost more than a few pounds if done overnight. This, combined with a significantly lower purchase price than the Model S and Model X, as well as a low Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) tax rating, is likely to make the Model three popular with company-car buyers.

Tesla Model three interior and equipment

The Model 3’s dashboard design embodies the high-tech minimalism seen in the rest of the Tesla range. A 15-inch touchscreen takes centre stage, however in the Model three it’s in landscape orientation, whereas the Models S and X get a portrait screen.

The Model 3’s speed and gear selection will be shown in the top portion of this screen, with mapping and audio information in the middle, and climate control settings sitting at the bottom.

The Model three comes with that screen and cloth seats as standard, as well as 18-inch alloy wheels, on-board wi-fi, sat nav, a reversing camera, 60:40 split-folding rear seats, voice activation, Bluetooth connectivity and all-round LED lights. Tesla provides a four-year, 50,000-mile warranty, and ensures the battery pack for eight years, and 100,000 miles.

While not a trim level per se, the $Five,000 Premium Pack brings all-round heated seats, which build up power adjustment in the front. The pack also adds wood trim, an upgraded stereo, a tinted sunroof, LED foglights and power-fold wing mirrors.

There’s also an Enhanced Autopilot system, priced at $Five,000. This permits the Model three to match the speed of the car in front, stay in its lane automatically, switch lanes when you indicate and park itself.

If you want the total autonomous practice you’ll need to ‘Full Self-Driving Capability’ option, which is a further $Three,000 – tho’ Tesla cautions “this feature is dependent upon extensive software validation and regulatory approval.”

When it arrives the fully-autonomous Model three will, Tesla says, “be capable of conducting trips with no activity required by the person in the driver’s seat.”

Other options include metallic paint for $1,000, and 19-inch alloy wheels, for $1,500.

Very first impressions

We had the chance to sample The Tesla Model three with a passenger rail in the company’s demonstrator and we can confirm that spectacle should be very extraordinaire indeed. The dual-motor model with four-wheel drive that we sampled felt significantly quicker than the sub-six-second 0-62mph time promised. It seemed very stable in corners, too – no doubt assisted by the low-mounted electrified motors and batteries.

Price & release date

The very first UK Model 3s are expected to be delivered in late two thousand seventeen or early 2018, with production confirmed to have began in July 2017. We expect UK cars to cost in the region of £35,000 – albeit this assumes the UK government will proceed to suggest a grant for private buyers of electrical cars.

There’s a high probability of high-performance versions of the three arriving later, priced to challenge with cars like the BMW M4 and Mercedes C63 AMG.

Customers who’ve placed Model three deposits receive regular updates on a ‘My Tesla’ web page, and as their car gets closer to production, they’ll build up access to an online configurator, permitting final choice of colour and options.

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