It's a car that's been embroiled in speculation and controversy, but now it appears that — on the surface at least — that the highly anticipated Tesla Model 3 is starting to roll off the production line in reasonable numbers.
Fresh drone footage from on top of the Tesla Factory in Fremont (obtained with a permit, hopefully...) has highlighted a parking lot filled almost completely to the brim with brand spanking new Model 3s.
This will come as a welcome relief to Tesla and their fans, following vast shortfalls in the company's Model 3 production figures to date.
When Elon Musk launched the Model 3, he said that he expected to be cranking out 20,000 of the things, monthly, by the end of the year.
Yet, by mid-year expectations had slid to a hope of producing 1,500 in September amid what Tesla called a 'production bottleneck'. The extent of said bottleneck was underlined when Tesla confirmed that they were only able to produce 260 Model 3s across the whole third quarter.
A fraction of their September goal, let alone that big initial hope of 20,000 a month.
Fast forward to the drone footage above. It shows about 600 Model 3s ready and waiting (I could count them out, but there's Christmas ham and Christmas chocolate still to be consumed. Not together, before you ask).
Nonetheless, this is light at the end of the tunnel not only for Musk and Tesla, but also for the roughly half a million people worldwide that have pre-ordered the EV.
With a 400km/h sports car and a semi truck now on Tesla's horizon, it's integral that Model 3 production continues to flourish.