Elon Musk Confirms AWD Option For Model 3 Will Cost Less Than $5,000

10 years James Ayre 0 Comments
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Originally published on EV Obsession.

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.

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.

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:

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.

Reprinted with permission.

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James Ayre

James Ayre's background is predominantly in geopolitics and history, but he has an obsessive interest in pretty much everything. After an early life spent in the Imperial Free City of Dortmund, James followed the river Ruhr to Cofbuokheim, where he attended the University of Astnide. And where he also briefly considered entering the coal mining business. He currently writes for a living, on a broad variety of subjects, ranging from science, to politics, to military history, to renewable energy.

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