Crowd charged by Tesla's upcoming entry-level sedan

Crowd charged by Tesla’s upcoming entry-level sedan

Hundreds of people were lined up before 10 a.m. at Tesla Motors in Burbank to put a deposit of $1,000 for the upcoming Model 3 electric vehicle, which is not expected to be released until the end of 2017.

By Anthony Clark Carpio

April 3, 2016 10:39 AM PT

Hundreds of people lined up outside the Tesla Motors dealership in Burbank on Thursday awaiting to put a deposit on the automaker’s latest high-performance, all-electric sedan, the Model 3.

As of Friday, more than 180,000 preorders had been placed, with each customer dropping $1,000 to reserve a vehicle that was just unveiled at an event at the SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne Thursday night and is still in its concept phase.

The Model 3 is said to be the company’s entry-level vehicle, starting at $35,000. The base model is estimated to have a minimum electric range of 215 miles.

Anthony Clark Carpio, anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com

Twitter: @acocarpio

Anthony Clark Carpio

Anthony Clark Carpio was a reporter with the Burbank Leader. He joined the Times Community News staff on New Year’s Eve 2012 and covered everything from the City Council to community events. He has a journalism degree from Cal State Northridge. Before reporting in Burbank, he was a reporter with the Huntington Beach Independent and a freelance reporter for the Pasadena Sun, the La Cañada Valley Sun and the Santa Clarita Signal.