Here's the first real, production Tesla Model 3 (TSLA)

pulse

July 9, 2017 5:16 AM

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced on Saturday that the first production version of the $35,000 entry-level electric car had been completed.

The first production Tesla Model 3 is built and ready to roll, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Saturday. Musk shared pictures of the car, the company's first mass-market electric vehicle, on Twitter.

This particular Model 3 belongs to Musk, who teased photos of the car earlier Saturday afternoon: "Production unit 1 of Model 3 is now built and going through final checkout. Pics soon."

The customer who placed the first deposit on the Model 3 apparently gave his spot to Musk, the CEO said on Twitter: "Ira Ehrenpreis had rights to 1st car as he was 1st to place a full deposit, but gave those rights to me as my 46th bday present. Tks Ira!"

About 30 Model 3s will be delivered to customers on July 28. Tesla said it would produce another 1,500 cars in September, and grow to about 20,000 cars per month by December.

Tesla unveiled the Model 3 in March last year and began taking $1,000 deposits for the car shortly after. Within a week, the electric-car company had racked up 325,000 pre-orders.

At the time, Tesla said the aggregate value of the pre-orders equaled about $14 billion in future sales. The company has taken some 400,000 pre-orders since then.

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