Tesla readying pure-electric BMW M3 rival
US car-maker's CEO confirms Model 3 Performance by mid-2018Tesla CEO Elon Musk has once again relied on Twitter to announce the US car-maker's future product plans.
This time he revealed all in a Twitter discussion with a follower on his personal feed.
In response to a question asking if the Model 3 Performance was on its way, Musk confirmed that the recently launched Model 3 would spin-off a faster model and that it would be on sale by the middle of 2018.
That means it's likely to be the world's first pure-electric rival to both the BMW M3 and Mercedes-AMG C63, but Tesla's CEO didn't tease any more details concerning the Model 3 Performance.
However, enthusiasts are already tipping the small battery-powered sedan to offer near-hypercar levels of acceleration.
That's because its bigger brother, the dual motor Model S Performance that’s 400kg heavier than the Model 3 is already capable of a 0-100km/h time in just 2.7 seconds.
Adopting the P100D powertrain, the Model 3 Performance should easily shave another 0.5sec off that time while still being able to offer a respectable 500km-plus range with the larger 100kWh batteries installed.
Even without the more powerful Performance motors fitted, the cheapest Model 3 is already no slouch. The standard car can hit 100km/h in less than six seconds and cover around 346km between charges.
Opt for the pricey $A11,300 battery upgrade and the range increases while the 0-97km/h (60mph) time falls to 5.1 seconds.
Australians were among the first customers in the world to be able to pre-order their Model 3 with a $1500 cash deposit.
Unfortunately, we'll also be among the last countries to take delivery of the cars ordered back in 2016, with local deliveries not due until 2019.
Read motoring.com.au's five reasons why the Tesla Model 3 is overhyped.
Tesla has announced that it has ambitious plans to help meet the Model 3 demand, which is rumoured to include an incredible 300,000-500,000 pre-orders.
By 2018 the US car-maker says it will manufacture 500,000 vehicles and by 2020 it will make a million cars a year.
Last year Tesla made 80,000 cars.
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