Our passion for technology keeps us up-to-date on the latest industry developments. So of course we follow brands like Tesla, the electric car company that is not only using technology to innovate automobiles, but also its entire business model.
Tesla Motors has been in the news a lot lately. In the past weeks, Tesla opened its Gigafactory, they shortened their website name to Tesla.com and updated the mission statement.
Also, CEO Elon Musk announced part two of the company’s master plan. Currently in the final phase of part one, we’re witnessing Tesla democratize the electric car that reminds us of how Ford brought the Model T to the masses.
The Launch
On March 31, amid little fanfare, Tesla announced its fourth car, the Model 3. Like all Teslas, the Model 3 is electric. It achieves 215 miles of range per charge and starts at $35, 000.
If you’re lucky, subtract $7, 500 at tax time for federal and more if you live in a state that offers environmental incentives. But chances are, you missed your chance. Because in the first 24 hours, without any advertising, 115, 000 people put down a thousand bucks to reserve the new Model 3.
And after a week, Tesla released a statement that it had an overwhelming amount of reservations: 325, 000 and climbing, or about $14 billion in implied future sales, making it the single biggest one-week launch of any product ever. By April 21, Tesla received about 400, 000 orders for a product that doesn’t even exist.
