Production for the Model 3 has begun on schedule with the first unit rolling of Tesla’s Fremont factory, confirmed by Elon Musk on twitter.
Musk had announced the first model would be built last Friday, yet with numerous set-backs some doubted the company’s ability to deliver on time, but all speculation was squashed on Sunday when Musk took to twitter to show of the first model.
“Production unit 1 of Model 3 is now built and going through final checkouts,” said Musk to his 9.9 million followers.
Originally, the first Model 3 was set to be handed over to Tesla board member Ire Ehrenpreis. But Ehrenpreis has instead handed over the rights to the very first production-spec Model 3 to Elon Musk as a 46th birthday present.
A welcome treat to the CEO, as the he new model comes after a bad week for Tesla's stock price.
Shares fell roughly 14 per cent after Musk tweeted that deliveries of the company's other two models — the Model S sedan and Model X SUV — were at the low-end of the company's projections in the first half of this year.
Musk also said the company would make 20,000 Model 3s in December, below previous estimates.
Musk earlier had said Tesla would make 10,000 Model 3s per week by December.
Musk also has said the California-based company will hold a party to hand over the first 30 Model 3s to customers on July 28.
Tesla expects to produce 100 cars in August and more than 1,500 in September.
Ultimately, Tesla hopes to build 500,000 Model 3s a year.
Tesla says the five-seat car will be able to go 346 kilometres on a single charge and will be sporty, accelerating from zero to 100km/h in under six seconds.
Prices for the Model 3 is to start around US$35,000 (NZ$48,000), but with a waiting list over 400,000 long, most customers will have to wait until 2018 for delivery of the new electric vehicle.
-Driven, AP