Tesla CEO Elon Musk gave investors and customers a glimpse of the hotly anticipated Model 3 via a video on Twitter on Friday.
Just don’t blink. The video of a “release candidate version” of the Model 3 is over in six seconds. It could be enough to satiate fans and shareholders —at least temporarily—as pre-production of the Model 3 ramps up.
A “release candidate” is a critical step on the road to a production-ready vehicle. This typically indicates an automaker is building the cars on production equipment to test the manufacturing process and the new vehicle.
First drive of a release candidate version of Model 3 pic.twitter.com/zcs6j1YRa4
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2017
Tesla introduced a prototype version of Model 3 in a splashy event nearly a year ago. Since then, activity at the company’s Fremont, Calif., factory and the company’s headquarters has escalated to a frenetic pace as it prepares for its most important vehicle to date.
The $35,000 electric vehicle marks the company’s official transition from niche luxury automaker to the mainstream.
Tesla is expected to begin limited vehicle production of the Model 3 in July. It plans to ramp up production to more than 5,000 vehicles per week in the fourth quarter and to 10,000 vehicles per week at some point in 2018, according to a shareholder letter released in February.
Earlier this month, Tesla raised about $1.2 billion—about $350 million in common shares and $850 million in convertible debt—a much needed cash injection for the company as it ramps up pre-production of the Model 3.
