Source: theverge techcrunch wired | Image Courtesy: techinsider

The highly anticipated and widely followed product launches of the West generally belong to smartphones and gadgets. The hysteria and hype over the launch of, say a new iPhone, is unparalleled. But recently Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors, took the stage in front of a cheering and bubbling crowd of journalists and customers to unveil an electric sedan vehicle dubbed Model 3. The cheers were for the man, who is highly respected worldwide for his futuristic vision of mankind, and for the ‘product’ itself: a sassy, all-electric, self-driving and affordable sedan car that promises to seduce the world away from fossil fuels.

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Elon and Tesla:

For the uninitiated, Elon Musk is widely hailed as one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time. He has founded and led path-breaking companies like Paypal, SpaceX, Tesla Motors, and SolarCity. All of them have had an underlying theme of building products for the future, and a vision to sustain humanity in the universe. One of Musk’s most innovative companies has been Tesla Motors, named after the iconic inventor Nikola Tesla. The company has a stated goal to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable transport. It seeks to make electric cars go mainstream and completely replace the conventional gasoline cars which release toxic gases and lead to global warming. To that end, it has made compelling electric cars that are high on performance and style, in order to bring them at par with gasoline cars.

Excitingly, the recent models from Tesla Motors, the Model S, and Model X, have proved to be better than traditional cars, with features like self-drive capabilities, tablet display on the dashboard, ridiculously fast acceleration and ample of cargo space. Combined with the fact that they don’t run on costly fuel and can be charged for free at company’s own charging stations, Tesla Motors has really brought electric cars into focus that have been generally viewed as ugly, congested and less-efficient.

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Model 3:

The Model 3 is the company’s latest and most affordable electric car. Priced at $35,000 (around Rs. 23 lakh), the Model 3 is at least two times cheaper than the next higher priced Model S. It is certainly the most important milestone in the company’s strategy as it aims to provide an eco-friendly mode of transportation to an ever-expanding middle-class. Some of the major features of Model 3 are:

1. A range of 215 miles (350 km) on a single charge, which Elon Musk expects to increase in further iterations of the car,

2. An eye-popping acceleration of 0-100km/h in 6 sec, which again is said to be the bare minimum the car will have,

3. Autopilot, with capabilities, to steer the wheel and change lanes automatically,

4. A 5-star rating in all safety categories, which is pretty much desired by everyone,

5. Room for five adults and ample of cargo space in both rear and ‘front’ trunk (possible because of absence of combustion engine in the front),

6. A full glass sunroof, which gives the feeling of openness and looks great, and

7. Powered by state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries that can charge on any standard voltage connector in any country.

Judging by the above specifications and the initial reviews pouring in from websites, the Model 3 does seem to have live up to its intended goal of making electric cars cool and mainstream. The price of the car is enticing enough for a middle-class user to buy it, especially in the US where electric cars are given subsidies by the government. As of now, Tesla Motors is taking preorders at a down-payment of $1,000, and not surprisingly, it has amassed orders worth $7.5 billion
within 24 hours of going on sale.

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Headed to India:

The Model 3 is also the first Tesla to be coming to India! Confirmed by Elon Musk himself on Twitter, the snazzy electric car, in all probability, is headed to India. This is a great news for Tesla fans and Elon fans, and also a welcome change in the Indian automobile landscape. The entry of Tesla Motors will force other companies to adopt similar technologies, and with financial support from the Indian government, electric cars can become very much conventional in India. This is something which is desperately needed here, given that Indian cities have continuously ranked as world’s most polluted cities, and have been forced to adopt drastic measures like Delhi’s odd-even.