Yahoo Autos Tesla Will Start Preliminary Model 3 Production Later This Month
With nearly 400,000 preorders on the books, there are few more anticipated cars than the $35,000 Tesla Model 3. Tesla has frequently announced its intentions to begin mass production of the Model 3 in July 2017, but doing so will require a pretty quick ramp-up. Reuters reports that in preparation for the Model 3's launch, Tesla will shut down its Freemont, CA factory later this month to begin "test building" a handful of Model 3s
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Anonymous sources told Reuters that Tesla would start building pre-production Model 3s on February 20th to test the assembly process and quality control. February 20th is also two days before Tesla reports its fourth-quarter 2016 earnings, so building a handful of Model 3s is seen as a way to get investors and fans excited.
While the Model 3 debuted in concept form last April, the design of the production car wasn't finalized until July. At some point before Model 3 production begins in earnest, Tesla is expected to hold another reveal event to show the production-spec car. Reuters does, however, report that the company is still making small changes to the design, which could impact its production schedule.
Tesla intends to ramp up production to 500,000 cars per year in 2018, an ambitious target that's greater than the number of cars the company has built in its entire history. With full Model 3 production set to begin in July, Tesla intends to start customer deliveries by the end of this year.
Given this news, we expect to see the production-spec Model 3 sooner than later. Watch this space.
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