The delivery of Tesla's Model X to customers will happen at the (very) end of September as promised, Elon Musk said on Wednesday. Tesla's CEO also clarified X pricing and Model 3 preorders.
"First production cars will be handed over on Sept 29 at our Fremont factory," Musk tweeted on Wednesday. And in an effort to clarify some confusion about pricing for the X, he said this: "With same options, Model X is $5k more than an S due to greater size & body complexity. Sig Series is fully loaded, hence high price," he said. "Sig" refers to the high-end Signature Series. On Tuesday, the company said that the Model X Signature series will start at $132,000. The Model X is Tesla's first crossover utility vehicle (CUV) and brings much needed diversity to the lineup -- to date primarily one car, the Model S.
But that's not all Musk tweeted about. He also had something to say about the Model 3, Tesla's future mass-market vehicle. "Model 3, our smaller and lower cost sedan will start production in about 2 years. Fully operational Gigafactory needed." And in a separate tweet: "$35k price, unveil in March, preorders start then."
@elonmusk $35k price, unveil in March, preorders start then.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 2, 2015
"In about 2 years" means that production for the Model 3 will start roughly in the fall of 2017. Little is known about the design of the Model 3 (though rumors abound) other than what Musk said in February during the company's earnings conference call. "We got quite adventurous with the [Model] X…that would be too risky given the Gigafactory and everything sort of has to happen on time. We’re not going to go super crazy with the design of the initial version of the 3.”
