Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk went on a Twitter Q&A frenzy yesterday, revealing quite a lot of new information about the Model 3. Among which, notably, was the comment that the all-wheel-drive upgrade for the Model 3 will cost less than $5,000 — and also, predictably, that the $35,000 base Model 3 variant will be a rear-wheel-drive vehicle.
For those of us with a strong preference for all-wheel-drive (AWD) vehicles, the news is certainly good news — I had been somewhat apprehensive about the pricing for the higher-trim versions of the Model 3, but it looks like things will probably be pretty reasonable. Considering that battery costs make up much of the cost of high-range electric vehicles (EVs) like the Model 3, I’d guess that larger battery pack sizes will still be a fair bit more expensive though.
@AlexBelohlavek less
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 3, 2016
It should be stated here that even the rear-wheel-drive (RWD) variants of the Model 3 will possess “great traction on ice” thanks to the fast torque response of the drivetrain, according to Musk. So maybe getting the AWD variant isn’t as important with the Model 3 as it is with many vehicles.
Model 3 will be RWD, with dual motor AWD optional. Even RWD will have great traction on ice due to fast torque response of Tesla drivetrain.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 3, 2016
Musk’s Twitter frenzy included many other interesting comments, including one about the production AWD versions of the Model 3 being much faster than the ones used for test drives at the unveiling… Here are some of the most interesting tweets:
@AndersRytter yes, but production AWD will be a lot faster
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 3, 2016
@torvos torque is shifted between front & rear motors every ~.01 secs. Traction control is way better than a normal AWD. Digital vs analog.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 3, 2016
@EduardoForneck hopefully 0.21
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 3, 2016
@gerardomarina Some tweaking underway
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 3, 2016
@iKrivetko that's not the real steering system
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 3, 2016
@HBL_Cosmin Wait until you see the real steering controls and system for the 3. It feels like a spaceship.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 3, 2016
This comment about a busy/free status display for superchargers coming to the navigation system via an over-the-air software update in the near-future was particularly interesting, as that has been a common complaint among many Model S and Model X owners to date. The company really does seem to listen to customer feedback quite a bit — a rare thing in the auto industry.
@lordsshrivas Coming soon for all Tesla cars. Just an OTA software update.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 4, 2016
WOW !!!! That is crazy 🙂