Tonight at 8:30 Pacific...

From the participants to the flavor of the thread, this seems identical to the 'latest from Apple' threads...

odd time, thanks

Tesla may have buyers with Apple-like fervor, but just not that many of them - NPR said there are roughly 100k plus Teslas sold each year and the company has yet to turn a profit.

Perhaps the Model 3 will change that, but it's a good two year wait for the first ones to arrive.

Counterpoint--the average transaction price on an iPhone isn't in the high six digits.

To date, Tesla has made one car at a time. The Model X is in the process of ramping up, so it's more than a bit misleading to average Teslas production numbers over the past few years. They are clearly increasing their production year over year.

The Model 3 will increase that substantially.

Tesla has sold a bit over 130k Model S based on the latest VINs I've seen --and first deliveries were in June 2012. There are probably a couple thousand Model X delivered now, and they only built a total of 2500 Roadsters.

Current production rate is about 100k per year -- but they've been ramping up to that for years. The Fremont factory has capacity for 500k per year -- and Model 3 will help them get there.

Also, they did turn a profit. For one quarter in 2013. Their losses mostly come down to product development and capacity expansion. They are in growth mode, not profit mode...

Friend just picked up his mS today, iirc the vin is in the 120’s or maybe it was 140's now I can't remember. Neat thing is they are now throwing in the mX center console, so much better than nothingness they had before. Although, a bunch of the clips weren't lining up and one side wasn't snapped in until I finessed it some.

Also kind of funny that it rides on the same size tires as the x3.

The new consoles started being delivered about a week ago… His may be one of the first builds with it...

Deposit placed online.

Welcome!

So what's the over/under on actual start time? The Model X reveal was nearly an hour late...

Wow -- they started the feed at 8:34... Let's see how long before Elon comes out on stage

8:36 -- and Franz came out first.

Video just went live.

And who picked this godawful music

Could this be more like an Apple event?

Ride like the wind...

First glimpse of the Model 3 all the way over on the right, behind him.

An I the only one who's video is constantly freezing?

Mine is not freezing.

Aside from the alien nose, that thing hits the mark.

I like it a lot. The nose is great...

It has a computer monitor tracked onto the dash. And at least you can wear your 10 gallon hat inside.

150k orders already?! So reservation is pointless.

The dash appears to have just the one central monitor -- I didn't see any instrument cluster in front of the wheel...

Will need to look at photos that come out soon...

I heard 115, but yeah, that's a lot.

It's a little stubby, but it looks pretty good. Will be interesting to see how closely the production interior tracks the concept.

I noticed at least two different door handles, didn't I? The red one had "L" shaped handles. Others looked like Model S units.

The front has a bit more contouring on the fenders than the S. Looks a little inspired by a Porsche front end.

Front end was almost a mix of Porsche and the Roadster, with a bit of the X.

There are pics on Twitter. Definitely no instrument cluster. :ack:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ce7b_rPXIAALOZJ.jpg

At some point, someone at Tesla (Elon?) said that one way to economize with the Model 3 was to put only a single screen in it.

Something tells me the final will be more incorporated -- they will want to pass the crash tests, so the hard edges won't last.

But at least it has cup holders separate from the arm rest!

I don't mind the grille-less front, but the weird vestigial hump where the grille would have been bugs me. Reminds me of the spare tire hump on an old Lincoln Continental.

I really like this angle...

http://1u88jj3r4db2x4txp44yqfj1.wpen...1.55.39-PM.png

For the door handles, I wonder if they are not motorized -- perhaps you push the wide part to pop them out?

Looks like it's puckering up.

Did I miss pricing, or did they just stick with the $35k number and no more details?

They won't reveal more details until people can order...

I predict options will be:
- leather 2.5k
- sunroof 1.5k
- autopilot convenience features (Elon only said autopilot safety features are standard -- which is also true on the Model S) $2.5k
- some sort of upgraded interior / auto lift gate $3k
- upgraded audio $2k
- larger battery $10k
- awd vs rwd $5k

That just about doubles the base price for fully loaded...

I'd seriously consider one of these, but

1) Does the rear seat fold so I can put a bike in the back?

2) I wouldn't be able to charge it in Manhattan. At least not yet anyway.

The front end is hideous. I'm assuming it's still a work in progress.

http://youtu.be/16SWVS56aZU

This video is helpful; gives a good view of the rear glass and (at 3:24) the trunk opening.

It's not a hatch, but Musk said something about a surfboard fitting, so I assume the seats fold.

Front end is a deal breaker for me.

Wow, the rear door opening looks really small. Everyone getting in and out of that thing looks like they're struggling a bit.

The front end isn't a dealbreaker for me. The whole car is pretty bland looking, but I'll take that over something overwrought like all the new Toyotas / Lexuses any day.

Rear door opening looks to be better than the Model S, which is really hard to get out of...

Hm, looks worse to me, but with the shaky potato video footage it's hard to tell. The model S is really bad in that regard.

I hope that glass roof is really well tinted, otherwise the rear seat passengers are going to bake.

The lack of a hatch is disappointing

As long as they use the same or better tinting as on the Model S, things will be fine. I live in AZ and even on the hottest summer days (115+), I cannot feel any extra heat on my head.

Compared to the side windows, which were not tinted at the factory -- I immediately felt heat through them the first few days I had the car. Then I had a tint applied that has strong UV protection -- and the side windows are now very similar to the roof...