Tesla unveiled its latest electric car, the Model 3, almost a year ago, but Elon Musk today provided a peek at an almost-final version of the vehicle.
Musk posted a short video to Twitter Friday showing a "release candidate version" of the Model 3. As you can see below, this thing can accelerate with a quickness.
First drive of a release candidate version of Model 3 pic.twitter.com/zcs6j1YRa4 — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2017
Musk also today clarified something: The Model 3 isn't a successor to the Model S. Instead, he wrote, "Model 3 is just a smaller, more affordable version of Model S w less range & power & fewer features," and clarified that the "Model S has more advanced technology."
"Am noticing that many people think Model 3 is the 'next version' of a Tesla, like iPhone 2 vs 3," he wrote. "This is not true."
Unveiled on April 1, 2016, the Model 3 has a starting price of $35,000, making it Tesla's most affordably priced model. Musk at the time said the base version of the Model 3 would go from zero to 60 miles an hour in less than 6 seconds, and drive for at least 215 miles on a single charge.
On Twitter today, he also revealed an interesting detail about the car: It was almost called the Model E instead of the Model 3. Check out what he had to say about that:
Model 3 was going to be called Model E, for obvious dumb humor reasons, but Ford sued to block it, so now it is S3X. Totally different :) — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2017
Just in case it's not so obvious to you why the company would want to call it Model E, consider that Tesla already has a Model S and Model X, Musk and Co. figured they'd round out the lineup with Models S, E, X. Instead, they have a slightly different version: S, 3, X.
This isn't the first time Musk has brought sexual innuendos into his product branding. Prior to revealing the Model S P85D back in 2014, Musk hyped up the announcement with a tweet saying it was "about time to unveil the D," setting off a firestorm of speculation and jokes.