Tesla rolls out first Model 3
WASHINGTON - Electric automaker Tesla (TSLA) has produced its first Model 3 sedan, a highly anticipated car because it carries a relatively low sticker price.
CEO Elon Musk late Saturday tweeted pictures of the first car to roll off the line, which will be heading to Musk's own garage. When sold, the Model 3 will cost $35,000 and can travel 215 miles on a single electric charge. A $7,500 federal tax credit for electric vehicles would lower the cost to $27,500.
The new model comes after a bad week for Tesla's stock price.
Shares fell roughly 14 percent after Musk tweeted that deliveries of the company's other two models — the Model S sedan and Model X SUV -- were at the low end of the company's projections in the first half of this year. Musk also said the company would make 20,000 Model 3s in December, below previous estimates.
Musk earlier had said Tesla would make 10,000 Model 3s per week by December.
Musk also has said the Palo Alto, California-based company will hold a party to hand over the first 30 Model 3s to customers on July 28.
Tesla expects to produce 100 cars in August and more than 1,500 in September, Musk tweeted earlier.
While second-quarter deliveries rose 53 percent from a year ago, they still were about 12 percent below first-quarter deliveries. Tesla said in a statement that second-quarter production was hampered by a severe shortfall of battery packs. Production averaged 40 percent less than demand until early June, the company said.