While Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been working hard since 2016 to push out the company’s Model 3 sedan at a super low mass market price tag, after suggesting just last month that this car would finally be here before 2019 was through, Tesla made the surprise announcement on Thursday that the Standard Range Model of this vehicle was finally being sold online for just $35,000, which is of course before the savings start to kick in.
As The Daily Mail reports, potential buyers of the Model 3 are able to rent it and test it out for themselves, driving the car for either 1,000 miles or seven days. Tesla’s Standard Range Model has a top speed of 130 MPH and boasts a range of 230 miles, with acceleration reaching 60 MPH in 5.6 seconds.
Tesla reportedly stopped processing orders on their website last week, writing cryptically that “great things are launching,” which was followed by Elon Musk announcing that he had “some Tesla news” that he would be sharing later on Thursday.
However, instead of making a huge public announcement, the company quietly began selling their Model 3 once again, this time adding one that was listed for a mere $35,000. Rather excitingly, for those who purchase this vehicle with the standard interior, the cost will only come to $24,950 once savings come into play.
I’ll Be Damned, the $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Is Actually Here https://t.co/Xclgsnqrmg pic.twitter.com/siFtSvHGrO
— Popular Mechanics (@PopMech) February 28, 2019
Tesla is also selling their Model 3 Standard Range Plus which runs for up to 240 miles, contains “most premium features,” and retails for $37,000. But despite these low prices, the company made it startlingly clear that these models still hold a perfect 5-star rating by the U.S. government.
“Although lower in cost, it is built to achieve the same perfect 5-star safety rating as the longer-ranged version, which has the lowest probability of injury of any car ever tested by the U.S. Government.”
To keep costs down and to also make it easier for customers to purchase its vehicles, Tesla has announced that a large number of their stores in the United States will be shut down to make way for all orders to be taken online instead. By doing this, the company has said that they will be able to greatly reduce the costs of their cars, including the $35,000 Model 3 now on offer.
As a recent press release has stated, “Shifting all sales online, combined with other ongoing cost efficiencies, will enable us to lower all vehicle prices by about 6% on average, allowing us to achieve the $35,000 Model 3 price point earlier than we expected. Over the next few months, we will be winding down many of our stores, with a small number of stores in high-traffic locations remaining as galleries, showcases and Tesla information centers.”
Besides the announcement of their new Model 3 sale price, Tesla is also ramping up their service system in a very big way and will soon be offering services not only on the same day, but very possibly even within the same hour that it is needed, and have said that in most cases technicians will be able to come to the customer instead of the reverse.