US electric vehicle maker Tesla has begun taking orders for its locally-made Model 3 car in China on Friday amid strong local demand for the car.
Tesla is scheduled to complete construction of the first phase of its wholly-owned "gigafactory" in Shanghai in June, with mass production scheduled to start by year-end. The company's chief executive officer Elon Musk back in April said the Shanghai plant is expected to produce between 1,000 and 2,000 vehicles per week by the end of 2019.
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Local reports suggest that orders going through today for the locally-made second-generation Model 3, which is priced at CNY328,000 (US$47,500), will be fulfilled in "six to ten months". The company said production costs of the Shanghai plant are some 50% of the existing facility in Fremont in the USA, which should make it a profitable operation.
The sporty Model 3 has a cruising range of up to 460km, a maximum speed of 225kph and can accelerate from 0-100kph in 5.6 seconds.
