Tesla Model 3 previewed ahead of March 31 reveal

The first teaser image of the new Tesla Model 3 has been revealed, ahead of its official debut scheduled for March 31 in California.

The American manufacturer teased the model on Twitter, showing a blacked-out silhouette of the model next to its current Model S and Model X. 

Despite the teaser image giving practically nothing away, the car looks to have the same design language (at least from the front) with similar arches to the Model S, although sitting slightly lower. The door mirrors also look slightly smaller than those of the Model S.

Tesla’s third model, which will be a smaller, all-electric car to rival the BMW 3 Series, Audi A4 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class, will be revealed at an Apple-style product launch akin to the launches of the Model S and Model X.

Production of the Model 3 will begin in 2017, so the car on display will be a pre-production model. Elon Musk recently tweeted that online orders in the US would be taken from April 1, and Tesla stores will be taking orders from March 31.

The Model 3 is expected to have a range of 320-480 kilometres. Tesla remains tight-lipped on details ahead of the car’s official unveiling, but we expect prices to start at around £35,000/Rs 34.45 lakh when it reaches the UK.

Just as the Tesla Model S has the quickest a 0-100kph sprint time of all the cars in its class, the Model 3 is likely to beat performance variants of its competitors, including the 4.1sec time of the BMW M3.

Tesla's vice-president of engineering, Chris Porritt, has already told Autocar UK that little would be carried over from existing Tesla models to the Model 3. Standout features, such as the ‘falcon doors’ of the Model X, are also likely to have been dropped in order to gain the more accessible price point.