Tesla to open Model 3 orders and reveal specs of dual motor and performance versions next week

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has confirmed that the automaker plans to open orders and release the specs of dual motor and performance versions of the Model 3 next week.

Currently, Tesla is still only producing the Model 3 with the Long Range battery pack, rear-wheel-drive, and the premium interior package.

The idea is to limit option to streamline production while the company is still trying to ramp up its manufacturing capacity.

Musk already said that they are planning to start producing the dual motor powertrain in July after Tesla reaches its target of 5,000 Model 3 vehicles per week at the end of the second quarter.

It’s still not a given that Tesla will reach the target, but Musk now seems determined to bring new powertrains to production as he confirms that they will open the orders for them as soon as next week:

Tesla will enable orders end of next week for dual motor AWD & performance. Starting production of those in July. Air suspension prob next year.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2018

Musk also confirmed that the performance version, which is also a dual motor powertrain, is going to be available at the same time.

But he specified that it will not have air suspension until next year, which will come as a surprise to many since air suspension has been standard on Tesla’s performance vehicles for a while now.

A Tesla Model 3 with dual motor and air suspension was also recently spotted being tested by Tesla on a race track. The vehicle was believed to most likely be a performance version, but it now looks like Tesla isn’t venturing into bringing air suspension to production until next year.

Tesla has been guiding deliveries at 4 to 8 weeks for reservation holders being invited to configure their vehicles, so it makes sense for the automaker to open orders now if they want to create a backlog of orders in time for production in July.

The good news is that reservation holders will finally have some specs and pricing information for those 2 versions of the Model 3, which will help them make better decisions when considering whether or not to wait for more options.

When dual motor AWD was not standard for Model S, Tesla charged $5,000 for the option.

Our previous survey showed that reservation holders expect Tesla to charge between $4,000 and $5,000 for the same option on the Model 3.

As for the Model 3 Performance version, it’s more difficult to gauge because we don’t exactly know what will be the difference in the powertrain.

With Tesla’s other vehicles, the Performance versions generally feature a more powerful rear motor.

We will keep an eye out for the details coming next week.