Tesla has delivered its first Model 3 car to UK customers, three years after reservations for the vehicle were opened.
The entry price for the fully-electric car starts at £38,900 with the £3,500 government grant, rising to £52,290 for the Performance model, which boasts speeds of up to 162mph and 0-60mph in 3.2 seconds.
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Tesla’s 18 UK stores will ramp up deliveries in the coming weeks, while a network of 50 superchargers around the UK will help drivers to stay charged. The superchargers will be pay-per-access, but a built-in CCS charge port means drivers can also use third party fast charging networks.
A statement from Tesla said: “Tesla has delivered over 500,000 cars worldwide and with nearly 140,000 units sold, Model 3 was the best-selling premium vehicle (including SUVs) in the US for 2018 – the first time in decades an American carmaker has been able to secure the top spot.
“Tesla’s executive saloon Model S and Model X SUV have been familiar sights in the UK since the first Tesla Westfield store opened and Model S deliveries started in 2014.”
According to Leasing.com’s league table, the Model 3 overtook the Audi e-tron and the Jaguar I-Pace in June to become the UK’s most popular electric vehicle enquiry. Paul Harrison, head of strategic partnerships at Leasing.com, said: “The Model 3’s popularity is down to several factors, with cost being one of them. Monthly prices for the Model 3 start at around £400 per month, which is almost half the cost of Tesla’s larger models.
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By GlobalData“Obviously the UK is one of the last countries to get the Model 3, and the long waiting period for right-hand drive models no doubt contributed to this huge early surge in interest too. It’s early days yet, but if the Model 3’s popularity continues at a comparable pace over the next few months, then Tesla could have delivered its first mass-market electric car.”
Earlier this year, Tesla announced it would be increasing the price on certain models by 3% to avoid closing a majority of its physical retail outlets, reversing an announcement made earlier this month.
Chief executive officer Elon Musk wrote of the reversal in a memo to employees of the company, although he did also warn that ‘half as many’ stores as previously announced would still be closed. Tesla has stated the price increase on vehicles will not affect the standard version of the Model 3.
According to Musk, the 10% of stores closed failed the ‘Sherlock Holmes test’: “Meaning, most of these stores are in such difficult or obscure locations, only Sherlock Holmes could find them! Even if selling through stores were our only means of sales, we would still have closed them down.”
