Tesla Confirms 325,000 Model 3 Preorders, $14B In Implied Future Sales For 215-Mile EV

By the time Musk had finished his presentation, preorders for the Model 3 had already far surpassed 100,000 units. The next day, orders topped 200,000 and a few days later approached 300,000. Today, Tesla confirmed that preorders for the Model 3 have now crossed the 325,000 mark. That is absolutely astonishing for a vehicle that won’t even reach production until late 2017 — and if Tesla’s past production woes are any indication, customers might not actually take delivery of their Model 3 EVs until 2018 and beyond.

“We’ve now received more than 325,000 reservations, which corresponds to about $14 billion in implied future sales, making this the single biggest one-week launch of any product ever,” wrote The Tesla Team in a blog post. “This interest has spread completely organically.

Instead, this has been a true grassroots effort driven by the passion of the Tesla team that’s worked so hard to get to this point and our current and future customers who believe so strongly in what we are trying to achieve.”

We should note that the $14 billion figure come from Musk’s assertion that the average transaction price for a Model 3 will be around $42,000.

The five-seat Model 3 comes standard with a single, rear-mounted electric motor and can dash to 60 mph in under six seconds. There will, however, be battery pack upgrades and more powerful engine options, including a dual-motor arrangement that would give the Model 3 all-wheel-drive.

Elon Musk also hinted that the rather spartan interior that we’ve seen in these early prototypes is not what will ship with the production Model 3. Instead, we’ll be looking at a more futuristic control scheme that we’re definitely eager to see.

@HBL_Cosmin Wait until you see the real steering controls and system for the 3. It feels like a spaceship.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 3, 2016