Indicative of how the Model 3 is expected to be warmly received by customers, particularly in the already anxiously waiting American market, there are now over 400,000 prospective buyers who have placed their reservations on the Model 3 and many will be waiting into 2018 and beyond for it.
The Model 3 is also the first vehicle to be built on the company’s third-generation platform, which should mean denser, more efficient battery packs for a fairly significant all-electric range.
Just by looking at the car, the overall profile of the Model 3 is distinctly Tesla but the electric vehicle also introduces some new design traits highlighted by the flat, grille-less face at the front.
It is smaller than the Model S and looks much stubbier as the short front and rear overhangs downsizing the overall profile.
The glass roof stretches from the bottom of the windshield into the hunched rear end, although the Model 3 does not have a hatchback boot. Instead, a second storage space lies under the bonnet.
Slight changes around the back end have also been made after Elon Musk said that the company has responded to concerns that the boot opening was too small and had been hampered by the car’s overall design.
The Model 3 also looks set to be more practical than the pre-production prototype Tesla has shown.