WASHINGTON — At Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting Tuesday, chief executive Elon Musk shed new light on the company’s next sport-utility vehicle, the Model Y, while confirming the production schedule for the new Model 3, the company’s entry-level auto priced at $35,000.
Tesla is set to begin production of the Model 3 next month, nearing the day when the first customers will be able to get behind the wheel. Buoyed by the mass market appeal of the Model 3, Tesla hopes to produce half a million electric cars by 2018. vastly ramping up its output over last year, at 85,000 vehicles. Early customers of the Model 3 can choose the car’s color and the size of its wheels, Musk said. But as production accelerates later this year and into 2018, additional configurations will open up. Model 3 customers can eventually choose between two different motors, one designed for highway travel and another for stop-and-go traffic, optimizing for acceleration and mileage economy.
Demand for the Model 3 isn’t slowing, Musk said.
