Many Prep students dream about cars. Dream they have scratched their car; dream they have a Ferrari or a Maserati, or a Tesla. Well very soon, it may be that more than one Tesla makes its day home in the Prep garage. With the release of the Tesla Model III, not only did students find a new dream car to admire, they have found an affordable one. Currently scheduled to release in 2017, the Model III will reportedly carry a price tag of just 35,000, nearly half the price of the current Model S and a tenth of the cost of a new Ferrari.
The popularity of the car is already evident as Tesla has nearly 400,000 pre orders, which cost 1,000 dollars each to place in addition to the 35,000+ due upon delivery. And it’s not just the price tag; the new Model III contains a base package including state of the art safety features: autopilot, automatic lane change, parking sensors and even an automatic park feature. In addition to the on the read features, the Model III comes equipped with an automatic start and roll up feature designed to bring the car from the garage to the front door without a person driving. While none of these features are revolutionary, they have not been seen outside of very upscale Mercedes and BMW before, often in packages costing nearly 70,000. At half the price, Tesla offers the same features, while also creating an enticing design.
In addition to the safety features, the Model III continues Tesla’s environmentally friendly promise, as the car is fully electric. A simple overnight charge from a standard electrical socket will have the car at full charge in the morning. The lithium-ion battery that powers the machine has a maximum range of 215 miles making the car a viable option for Seattle driving or even an instate road trip. This great range, combined with Tesla Charging Stations scattered at points along major highways, have expanded the true range of the current Model S to several thousand miles. While earlier electric cars, like the Nissan Leaf, have very slow 0-60 mph acceleration times, the Model III boasts a stunning 5.2-second acceleration time aligning the car with several very high performance cars.
Although the price tag may deter some from joining the ranks of Model III owners in the future, the probability that many will be sighted at Prep is high considering the amount of Tesla Model S’ already in Seattle.