Initial deliveries still to begin in late 2017. New reservations will have to wait until mid-2018 and beyond.
Tesla has altered the wording for the reservation pane within their websites for their newest car, Model 3, which is slated to begin production in later in 2017. At least, that is what the text used to imply. Then it no longer did, but now it states that clearly.
Before we go on, we should clarify that these do not reflect the Australian version of the Tesla website. At least not yet.
In the North American versions, however, the text underneath the ‘Reserve’ button read that ‘Deliveries begin late 2017’, which is consistent with timeline that was promised at the Model 3’s premiere.
Some time yesterday, though, Tesla changed that say ‘Production’ would begin by the end of 2017, deviating from the original timeline and causing some confusion with customers, some of the motoring media, and especially investors suspecting (and fearing) the Californian EV maker to be silently delaying deliveries.
However, it would appear that that was not the intention, and Tesla changed it yet again to read that overall production would begin in mid-2017, which would be required to meet the late 2017 delivery commencement date, and that the expected delivery for reservations would rightly have to be in mid-2018 or later.
That clears things up. The new text is now clearer to manage new customers’ expectations who reserve their Model 3 as their cars would be farther back in the queue of over 400,000 pre-orders.
A Tesla spokesperson responded to The Verge’s request for comment on the matter, and said: "Today’s website update doesn’t reflect any change in our plans. We still plan to begin Model 3 deliveries in late 2017, and we adjusted the date on our marketing page to reflect more accurate timing for new/future reservation holders.”
For more on Tesla vehicles, including pricing and specifications, check out our Showroom.
