Tesla Motors unveiled its new mid-luxury electric car at an event in Los Angeles Thursday night. Dubbed the Model 3, the starting price tag is $35,000, or about half the cost of the company’s previous models.
Tesla co-founder J.B. Straubel told a crowd at the University of Nevada, Reno last fall that the car is easier to produce and will have a range of 200 miles when fully charged.
"It's a completely new platform, different technology base, aimed at building hundreds of thousands per year instead of tens of thousands per year," Straubel said.
Tesla stores have already been drawing lines of customers ready to plunk down the $1,000 deposit. But drivers won’t be hitting the road just yet, the cars won’t be rolling off the line until next year.
Tesla has also been ramping up construction at its Gigafactory outside Reno, which will eventually manufacture batteries for both its cars and home energy storage.