Electric vehicle car maker Tesla has reached a key milestone for its “mass-market” Model 3, with 100,000 of the models sold.
To put that achievement in perspective, it has taken the Model 3 little more than one year to reach that level – it took the Nissan Leaf four years.
The figures, courtesy of Bloomberg’s Tesla Model 3 Tracker, also shows that only a week or two into the current quarter, Tesla has output at least 7,372 Model 3s, with an average output (since the early days of July 2017) of 4,233 a week.
CEO Elon Musk originally promised 100,000 Model 3s would be made by the end of 2017, but hit production delays – but is now said to be exceeding the target of 5,000 cars a week laid down by Musk.
The Model 3 is the most popular—and according to NHTSA, the safest — EV on the market in the US, having been ranked as not only the best selling EV in the country but also the 5th best selling sedan.
In Canada, it follows only behind the Nissan Leaf in terms of popularity, according to sales figures and estimates from Green Car Reports.
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.