The highly anticipated Model 3 by Tesla Motors will carry a price tag of $35,000, which will make it the cheapest electric vehicle to be offered by the company. Despite the availability of cheaper electric cars by other automobile manufacturers, immense hype surrounds the Model 3 due to the groundbreaking technology of Tesla Motors.
Production of the Model 3, however, will only begin late next year. While waiting for the electric vehicle, Tesla Motors has decided to relaunch one of its previous models at a lower price in a bid to tap into the enthusiasm surrounding the Model 3 and to boost slowing sales growth.
Tesla Motors has reintroduced the Model S 60 to the market at a price tag of $66,000, which makes it the most affordable offering of Tesla Motors until the Model 3 is ready for sale.
The new price is lower by $3,900 compared with the price tag of the Model S 60 when it was originally launched in 2012. Tesla Motors stopped production of the vehicle last year when it increased the battery size for its flagship electric sedan, replacing the Model S 60 with the Model S 70D and pushing the average transaction price for the Model S to around $100,000.
The Model S 60 features a range of 210 miles and is capable of going from zero to 60 miles per hour in 5.5 seconds. Tesla Motors has also relaunched the all-wheel-drive Model S 60D at a price tag of $71,000, with a range of 218 miles and capable of going from zero to 60 miles per hour in 5.2 seconds.
The top speed of both the Model S 60 and the Model S 60D is at 130 miles per hour, with the two vehicles coming with 60 kWh batteries. For an additional $9,000, buyers can have the batteries upgraded to 75 kWh ones to bump up the range of the Model S 60 to around 250 miles and the Model S 60D to 258 miles, and for $3,000 more, they can have the Autopilot feature activated.
Will buyers be willing to purchase the $66,000 Model S 60, when the $35,000 Model 3 is coming? Tesla Motors believes so.
"We've heard from a number of people who would like to buy a Model S, but can more easily afford it only at a lower price point," said the company in a statement.
The Model S 60 and Model S 60D are now available to customers, and will be allowed to access the fast-charging infrastructure that Tesla Motors has set up across the country.
