Elon Musk Reveals Final Prototype Of The Tesla Model 3

Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla recently gave the world a glimpse of the Model 3's latest prototype via a tweet. The short video of the Tesla Model 3 sedan was described by Musk as a "release candidate version". The term, according to software development jargon, implies that the car seen in the video is the production model - well, almost. Autoblog explains that the "release candidate version" of the Model 3 is virtually indicative of the final version of the car that will go into production. Long story short, this means that Tesla is unlikely to introduce any major design or content revisions on the car before it goes into production. At least not unless the company discovers a fault that necessitates a fix.

First drive of a release candidate version of Model 3 pic.twitter.com/zcs6j1YRa4

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2017

The Tesla Model 3 premiered last year and will make its way to India too. Though the company hasn't revealed a date yet, Elon Musk announced earlier this year that he was 'hoping' the Tesla Model 3 launch in India would happen this year.

@elonmusk eagerly waiting for Tesla to launch in India. Any plans to do it? If so then WHEN?

— Ishan Goel (@goel_ishan) February 7, 2017

@goel_ishan Hoping for summer this year

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 7, 2017

The electric car manufacturer plans to start Tesla Model 3's production in July this year and had in fact temporarily shut down production at its California assembly facility in February to prepare for the production of the Model 3 sedan. Tesla had said the recess was to allow it to boost capacity of its existing paint shop for the sake of the groundwork for the Model 3 plus other general maintenance.

In addition to the video of the Model 3 prototype, Musk had also tweeted about the Model 3 not being "the "next version" of a Tesla".

Am noticing that many people think Model 3 is the "next version" of a Tesla, like iPhone 2 vs 3. This is not true.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2017

Model 3 is just a smaller, more affordable version of Model S w less range & power & fewer features. Model S has more advanced technology.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2017

Considering that Tesla, in many ways, is seen as more of a technology company than a car manufacturer, it is easy to assume that every new model is better than the previous one in terms of hardware and software. These tweets by Elon Musk clarify that isn't true. So long story short, like the Mercedes-Benz C-Class is often referred to as the baby S-Class, the Model 3 is, informally, the baby Tesla Model S.