The Tesla Model 3 electric sedan shall be officially unveiled by electric carmaker Tesla Motors late next year but a lot of its prototypes are being frequently spotted on the streets of California these days.
As a matter of fact, a lot of spy shots of Tesla Model 3 prototypes have been taken lately and most of them were already shared on the social media accounts of those who were able to snap them, notes Clean Technica.
Perusing through the published spy shots of the Tesla Model 3, one could not help but admire how the sedan really looks like. It is not just the feature of the vehicle as an electric car but also about how it looks on the exterior. It looks sleek very much like a sports car and it appears to be a soft and smooth ride.
In addition to spy shots, there are also videos of the Tesla Model 3 prototypes on the streets and in some other places and most of them are all very impressive.
There is a shiny silver model spotted in Tesla’s Fremont factory, there is a black matte variant, and there are plenty of others out in the streets. The shiny silver model is considered by critics as the best in the lot
Interestingly, critics note that the latest Tesla Model 3 prototypes that were spotted showed a bit of improvement from the previous prototypes seen earlier. The next prototypes that would come out would look slightly different from the alpha prototypes that have been seen previously, details Electrek.
Tesla Motors is almost through with its Tesla Model 3 inverter architecture which would allow for an output higher than 300kW and make the sedan’s power capacity almost the level of the Tesla Model S.
Not supplying the batteries for Tesla Model 3
Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter early last month to respond to published reports stating that Samsung SDI shall be supplying the batteries for the upcoming sedan of the American electric carmaker.
Musk said that he would like to clarify that Tesla Motors is working exclusively with Panasonic for the Model 3 cells and that the news articles claiming otherwise are incorrect.
The Tesla Model S and the upcoming Tesla Model X are using Panasonic cells so there is no reason why the company would use Samsung batteries on the Model 3.
A Tesla spokesperson also said that the company works with all the leading battery suppliers around the world. But Panasonic has been its battery suppliers for the Model S and the Model X.
The company representative also disclosed that Tesla is working very closely with Panasonic to ramp up battery cell production at the Gigafactory in Nevada for the Model 3.
Early in June, Reuters reported that Samsung SDI and Tesla Motors is close to forging a deal to help cover the unexpected demand for the Tesla Model 3 sedan which would be launched late next year.
However, the same report also hinted that the two companies may be in discussions to supply the cells for Tesla Motors’ energy storage products such as its Powerwall.
Musk did not deny that part of the Reuters report in his tweet which means that it is possible that Tesla will offload battery production for Tesla Energy products to another company while it focuses on increasing its production for the Tesla Model 3 cells over at its Gigafactory.
A multi-million dollar tweet
Market analysts believe that the tweet of Elon Musk is valued either $580 million or $800 million depending on which side is being asked.
The post on Twitter cost Samsung some $580 million in market capitalization while Panasonic gained $800 million in value on the same day.
Musk also confirmed that the Tesla Roadster has LG Chem batteries and that Samsung batteries are going to go to the Tesla Energy division.