Demo?

[Gunn]

Speaking from an engineering and manufacturing point of view, the chassis and structure of the M3 will (almost) be the same regardless of trim (battery and motor option being the difference). So if Tesla wanted to help themselves turn the reservations into purchases they could easily give the showrooms a "skeleton" framework, showing off the chassis/battery/motor like they do for the MS.

The hard part would be to have a fully finished model as most have said, the first off the line will be customers.

However (and again from an E & M POV), new products generally have what is called a "Golden Sample" shipment, it's the first batch that is made in the factory, put in the shipping packages and sent out. So say for a BR/DVD player, the first few 100 or so (or however many are on a pallet) are made, fully packaged up and shipped in the proposed method but to a test house. There the shipment is inspected and all the units tested to make sure that there are no defects by the time the customer received their product.

Now i know Tesla are not going to put the MS on a pallet and ship out but I would imagine they would still build a limited few to ensure the production line is working correctly, these would then become the "Golden Sample" cars and could possibly be the traveling display models that people have mentioned. If Tesla were smart then each car would be a different color and trim to ensure all parts of the production line are correct.

Just a thought to ponder on...

 

[Max*]

There the shipment is inspected and all the units tested to make sure that there are no defects by the time the customer received their product.

Tesla obviously doesn't do this. Have you seen the issues with the Model S and Model X that come off the line? The first few 100 VIN numbers are the product testers!

 

[trils0n]

Tesla obviously doesn't do this. Have you seen the issues with the Model S and Model X that come off the line? The first few 100 VIN numbers are the product testers!

Good thing the first Model 3s will be going to Tesla employees.

 

[Booga]

Depending on how early your reservation is and whether you believe you'll get the full tax credit or not, this could be a decision that costs you $7,500. You may want to take delivery, because that credit is so large, and then if you don't like something, you can still sell it and take less than a $7,500 hit on the purchase price, which means you could walk away breaking even.