This Man Could Be World’s First To Preorder Tesla Model 3

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Tesla is set to unveil its much awaited mass-market electric car Model 3 at its Design Studio in Hawthorne, California on March 31. Reservations will begin Thursday morning, even before the official unveiling. Andreas Stephens of Australia would be one of the world’s first, if not first, people to pre-order the new electric vehicle. He has set his camping chair at 7 a.m. AEDT Tuesday morning at Tesla’s St. Leonard showroom in Sydney.

Australians will be the first to preorder the new car

“I wanted to make sure that I was number one,” Stephens told Mashable Australia. Model 3 preorders in Australia will begin at 8 a.m. local time on Thursday. Thanks to the time zone differences, Australians will have the first opportunity to put down AUD1,500 to secure a Model 3. Andreas Stephens could comfortably have booked the vehicle online at 2:30 p.m. AEDT on Friday, April 1 (8 p.m. PT on March 31). But he didn’t want to miss the opportunity of being first.

When Stephens set up his camp outside the showroom, Tesla employees were surprised to see him. They were yet to put the red ribbon for the queue. He expects Model 3 to cost between AUD 60,000 and 70,000, including the cost of making it right-hand drive. Stephens is not a big car enthusiast. He still drives a 22-year-old Toyota Corolla. He became interested in Tesla because his son could never stop talking about Elon Musk.

Andreas unlikely to be first to get Model 3

Andreas told EFTM that he doesn’t even have a garage yet. But he will have one by the time Model 3 deliveries begin in Australia. Even though he would be one of the first to preorder the vehicle, he will not be the world’s first to get the car. Tesla has said that its employees and existing Model S owners will be prioritized, including in Australia. The US deliveries will begin at the end of 2017, followed by Europe and Asia-Pacific in 2018. Stephens doesn’t hope to receive his car before 2018.

Tesla employees at the showroom have been treating him well. According to Mashable Australia, they even took him for a drive in the premium Model S. Tesla’s new vehicle is rumored to be 20-25% smaller than Model S. It is said to have a range of 200 miles.

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