Cars and Drivers

Tesla Releases Dual Motor Model 3

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: May 20, 2018 6:16 am

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 11:23 pm

As usual, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) did not issue a press release about its newest product. CEO Elon Musk sent a series of tweets to launch the new dual motor Model 3. The news did not help mask the fact that the company is in trouble. It did speak to Tesla’s ongoing string of innovations

Musk tweeted:

Tesla dual motor, all-wheel drive performance Model 3: 3.5 sec 0-60mph 155 mph Top Speed 310 mile Range

Cost of all options, wheels, paint, etc is included (apart from Autopilot). Cost is $78k. About same as BMW M3, but 15% quicker & with better handling. Will beat anything in its class on the track.

Tesla AWD is dual motor, so you can fully drive the car even if one breaks

Cost of normal dual motor AWD option is $5k. Range is also 310 miles. Takes 0-60mph to 4.5 sec & top speed to 140 mph.

Tesla dual motor means there is a motor in front & a motor in rear. One is optimized for power & one for range. Car drives fine even if a motor breaks down. Helps ensure you make it to your destination & don’t get stuck on side of road in potentially unsafe conditions.

As if a Tesla, or even one of its engines, would even break down.

The price point of $78,000 is a little over twice the price of the base Model 3 which is rolling off production lines now, but not as fast as either Wall St. or the hundreds of thousand of people who put deposits down for the cars would like. Delays in Model 3 production are at the head of the list of why Tesla’s stock has dropped 14% this year to $345.

Musk does get to display his knack for impressive forward thinking with the new product. Among the comparisons he makes with his new car is to the BMW M3 mid-sized rocket which has been a mainstay of the German car company’s model line for decades. What Musk did not point our, perhaps because it is obvious, is that the BMW M3 has a gas engine.