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Last week was full of victories for entrepreneur Elon Musk. On Friday, SpaceX made history when the Falcon 9 made the first successful ocean landing. And on Thursday, Musk’s other wildly successful business, Tesla, hit a new sales record for a car that won’t even be available until late next year.
The recently unveiled Model 3, Tesla’s first affordable car, has seen 325,000 preorders, with a refundable deposit of $1,000. That’s $325 million on deposits alone, and an implied $14 billion should every car be purchased. The car is estimated to retail for $30,000. 5% of Tesla customers slapped down a deposit for two cars — which is the maximum you can reserve.
Model 3 order day starting in Australia pic.twitter.com/T6aUnG5BCv
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 30, 2016
Tesla fans lined up at dealerships around the world, eager to preorder the much-hyped Model 3, although it’s two years away from reaching the dealerships. One customer sat outside the Tesla store for 48 hours to guarantee his spot at the front of the line.
Elon Musk has only unveiled part one of the Model 3, without any advertisements or paid endorsements. Part two of the reveal is set for later in the year, which promises more reservations in the months to come. Musk anticipates that the Model 3 will generate half a million in preorders before the end of the year.
Should every person buy the car they reserved, it will be the biggest week-one launch of any product, ever — even overshadowing the famous launches of Apple’s iPhone. It’s already seen the highest amount of pre-orders for an automotive launch, despite previous problems with meeting production deadlines.
Earlier in March, Tesla announced that they had only managed to ship 2,400 models of the Tesla Model X. The company admitted that they had been overambitious in cramming the model full of technology that ultimately stalled production times.
However, the company successfully shipped all 50,580 of ordered models in 2015, and Musk is confident that the California production facility can keep up with the exceptional demand for the Model 3.
From the sneak peak at the new model, Tesla has scaled back on the interior of the car to keep the prices down. It stands to reason that this will also be helpful when meeting exacting production deadlines, especially if pre-orders continue to roll in.
It’s been a triumphant week for Elon Musk, but it’s also been a triumphant week for the environment. With an insatiable public demand, it’s clear for the entire industry that the electric car is here to stay. Watch the entire launch below.
Based in Southern California, Amica is the sort of annoying hippie you find fermenting pickles and trying to spike her husband's meals with kale. She's also written for The Huffington Post, MindBodyGreen, and The Frisky.
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