Tesla Motors’ Model 3 unveiled; pre-bookings surge to 198,000

Tesla Motors’s CEO Elon Musk unveiled the company’s long awaited Tesla Model 3 on Thursday. The fully-electric four-door vehicle will range 215 miles per charge and has managed to achieve a 5-star safety rating.

In the first few days of launch itself, the Model 3 has raked up more than 198,000 pre-orders.

The sedan will be priced at $33,000 (Rs. 23.2 lakh) and will go into production next year. With Model 3, Tesla is trying to take electric cars to the mainstream audience.

In addition to the launch, Elon Musk tweeted that the car will also be available to import in India. Though, current regulations will levy a 100% import duty on the import. This, however, has not stopped people like Vijay Sharma, founder and CEO of Paytm, from booking one. A few other entrepreneurs are also among the first Indians to pre-order the car.

“With the Model 3, Tesla is testing the Indian market and can build a big brand in India. By the time they start shipping the vehicle to India, they would expect the Indian government to bring incentives for electric cars.” The Indian car market is also tending towards better environment-friendly cars.” stated Abdul Majid, partner at PWC.