--- title: Tesla Model 3 Basically Became America's Best-Selling Electric Car in 1 Day description: The 135,000 pre-orders for the $35,000 Tesla Model 3 translate into over $4.7 billion in sales. authors: - name: Alicia Adamczyk url: https://money.com/author/alicia-adamczyk/ at_money_since: 2015 articles: 201 covers: - Business - Banking - Career Advice - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Personal Finance - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://x.com/aliciaadamczyk former_staff: true published: '2016-04-01T14:56:27.000Z' modified: '2024-04-16T10:29:18.000Z' section: Business tags: - Autos - Electric Cars - Elon Musk - pubdesk - Tesla word_count: 308 canonical: https://money.com/tesla-model-3-sales-electric-cars/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![160401_EM_Tesla](https://img.money.com/2016/04/160401_em_tesla.jpg) *Customers waited outside Tesla showrooms this week to put deposits on the new Model 3.* No one has actually purchased a Tesla Model 3 just yet. But based on how many people put deposits down this week to hold their spots to buy the affordable new electric car, sales of the $35,000 Model 3 will absolutely blow the doors off the plug-in competition. Drivers won't be able to get their hands on the new Tesla 3 until 2017 (and likely later than that due to [high demand](https://money.com/tesla-model-3-launch-apple/)), but that didn't stop [135,000 pre-orders](http://www.wsj.com/articles/teslas-musk-model-3-orders-surpassed-115-000-within-24-hours-1459483890) to be placed on Thursday, the Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled the Model 3 just outside of Los Angeles. This level of interest is unprecedented for any electric car. The Nissan Leaf, for example, had its best year ever in 2014 when it sold a little over [30,000 units](http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1096118_nissan-leaf-sets-new-annual-record-for-u-s-electric-car-sales). The *Wall Street Journal* reports that Tesla itself has [sold just 100,000 cars](http://www.wsj.com/articles/teslas-musk-model-3-orders-surpassed-115-000-within-24-hours-1459483890) to date. Last year, the Model S was the best-selling electric car in the U.S., with [25,700 cars purchased](http://www.statista.com/statistics/257966/best-selling-electric-cars-in-the-united-states/). Even more impressive? Model 3 pre-orders surpassed sales for *all* electric cars in [2014 (120,000)](http://fortune.com/2015/01/08/electric-vehicle-sales-2014/) and [2015 (115,000)](http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1102209_plug-in-electric-car-sales-will-bounce-back-after-2015-decline-report). Currently, customers put down a refundable $1,000 deposit to order a Model 3, with some fans responsible for multiple deposits (though Musk tweeted that pre-orders would be capped at [two per person](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/715640777578143744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)). With the retail price for the cars set at $35,000, the deposits would translate into over $4.7 billion in sales if all the models are delivered. **Read Next: [Why the Cult Around Tesla Is Eerily Similar to Apple’s Fanboy Following](https://money.com/tesla-model-3-launch-apple/)** The more affordable Model 3—starting at about half the price of the $70,000 Model S—is Musk's move to bring electric cars to the masses. And according to Bloomberg, the model is cheaper than the $35,000 price tag lets on: with [state and federal tax incentives](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-09/will-the-tesla-model-3-really-sell-for-25-000) included, the price for the new model can effectively cost as little as $25,000. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/tesla-model-3-sales-electric-cars/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Business", "item": "https://money.com/business/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Sales", "item": "https://money.com/sales/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Tesla Model 3 Basically Became America's Best-Selling Electric Car in 1 Day" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/tesla-model-3-sales-electric-cars/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/tesla-model-3-sales-electric-cars/", "name": "Tesla Model 3 Basically Became America's Best-Selling Electric Car in 1 Day", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2016-04-01T14:56:27.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/tesla-model-3-sales-electric-cars/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/tesla-model-3-sales-electric-cars/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-16T10:29:18.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Tesla Model 3 Basically Became America's Best-Selling Electric Car in 1 Day", "articleSection": "Business", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2016/04/160401_em_tesla.jpg", "width": 2100, "height": 1398, "caption": "160401_EM_Tesla" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alicia Adamczyk", "url": "https://money.com/author/alicia-adamczyk/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/alicia-adamczyk/#author", "image": "https://img.money.com/2016/01/alicia-headshot-2.jpg?quality=85&w=640&h=640&crop=1", "email": "alicia.adamczyk@moneymail.com", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/aliciaadamczyk" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2016-04-01T14:56:27.000Z", "description": "The 135,000 pre-orders for the $35,000 Tesla Model 3 translate into over $4.7 billion in sales.", "abstract": "The 135,000 pre-orders for the $35,000 Tesla Model 3 translate into over $4.7 billion in sales.", "@id": "https://money.com/tesla-model-3-sales-electric-cars/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-04-16T10:29:18.000Z", "wordCount": 308, "keywords": [ "Autos", "Electric Cars", "Elon Musk", "pubdesk", "Tesla" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Business", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Sales", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales" ] } ] } ] } ```