It was, of course, a selfless gesture on the part of Tesla board member, Ira Ehrenpreis, to hand over the first Model 3 to come off the production line to Elon Musk to mark his 46th birthday. Ehrenpreis had bagged the first car - having been first to put down a deposit - but "gifting" it to the company's founder, Musk, must have seen the right thing - the smart thing, in fact - to do. This man is likely to make his fellow board members very, very wealthy indeed.
Elon Musk was "gifted" the first Model 3 by a fellow board member for his 46th birthday at the weekend.
There will be usual Tesla launch party at the end of the month when the first 30 owners gather to have their cars handed over. Whatever about the hype though, this car looks like it may be the one to revolutionise global transport. It's obviously all-electric but, as importantly, it goes on sale for €35,000 - less than half the price of the next Tesla up. Fedreral tax credits should reduce that figure by over €30,000.
This the photo Elon Musk tweeted of his new car - the first Model 3 to roll off the line.
It has a promised range of 346 KM on one charge and is guaranteed for life. Silicon Valley is now driving the world's transport development and traditional car manufacturers are quaking in their boots.
Around 100 Model 3's will be built in August.
Tesla is expected to produce 100 cars in August and 1,500 in September. After that it is all systems go and the car should be available in Europe in about a year. Choices of colour and wheels are going to be more limited this time around to ensure that complicated orders don't slow up production.
Tesla's future success in Europe will depend very much on pricing and local tax regimes. By the time the Model 3 gets to Ireland there may be a whole new way of looking at electric and hybrid car subsidies.
