Tesla Motors may be having a hard time selling its vehicle in the United States, but this apparently isn't the case in China. The California-based fully electric vehicle manufacturer recently launched its first pre-order for the Tesla Model 3 in China, with the vehicle's price starting at $47,529.
The price for the locally built Model 3s is significantly cheaper than the $54,616 Tesla was charging Chinese customers for imported Model 3 units. Tesla previously imported Model 3 vehicles to China, but the company had problems dealing with the cost of import duties and other shipping issues.
This has become an even bigger problem given the escalation of the trade war between the United States and China.
The pre-order was reportedly completed in just 3 minutes, with all available slots filled. The company's Chinese website reportedly even crashed shortly after the pre-order was made available due to the heavy traffic from interested buyers.
The company's previous delivery delay issues in the United States have apparently not affected China's enthusiasm for the Model 3, with buyers still clamoring to get their hands on one.
According to Tesla, the expected delivery time for the Model 3 to its Chinese buyers will be from six to 10 months. All vehicles sold in the country will have a cruising range of 460km, under the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) condition.
These are essentially the Model 3 Standard Plus versions of the vehicle being sold in the United States. This version of the Model 3 doesn't only boast a higher range, but also a higher zero to 100 time and maximum speed.
All of the vehicle sold in the pre-order will be produced in Tesla's new Gigafactory located in Shanghai. Tesla's factory is China's first wholly foreign-owned enterprise that was put up after the country's lifted its foreign ownership restrictions.
The policy change specifically allowed new energy vehicles to establish facilities in China without anya ownership restrictions. Tesla's Gigafactory is also the largest foreign-funded manufacturing project in the city of Shanghai.
The factory was constructed earlier in the year and it is expected to start mass producing Tesla Model 3 vehicles before the year ends.
According to Tesla, it has implemented a lot of new technologies in its Shanghai factory, which has resulted in a 50 percent savings in the cost per unit when compared to its factory in Fremont, California. Elon Musk announced last month that he expects the Gigafactory in Shanghai to produce around 1,000 to 2,000 Model 3 units per week before the year ends.
