Tesla has been promising its standard Model 3 battery pack to bring the price of the vehicle down to the long-awaited $35,000 price, but now Tesla has removed any mention of the base model from its website – sending some fans into a panic.

$35,000 Tesla Model 3

The $35,000 price has always been one of the most revolutionary features of the Model 3.

It was part of Elon Musk’s original “secret master plan” for Tesla: make a compelling mass-market all-electric vehicle.

Tesla has been promising a $35,000 base price before incentive, but the cheapest Model 3 available today costs $42,000 after a recent price drop.

The price is supposed to be achieved with a smaller battery pack and less premium interior.

Tesla Model 3 Delays

For the past few months, Tesla has been listing the version of the vehicle as coming within “4 to 6 months,” but today it removed the timeline from its online configurator and its website.

We received dozens of emails from Model 3 reservation holders worried about the meaning of Tesla removing the mention of the standard battery pack.

When asked about the update, a Tesla spokesperson declined to comment on the change.

The timeline is removed from Tesla’s US website, but it’s still visible on the Canadian Model 3 configurator.

Elon Musk on base Model 3

During a conference call with analysts for Tesla’s Q4 financial results last month, Musk said that he estimates the new version of the Model 3 is going to be available around the middle of the year:

“We expect to introduce the standard range Model 3 sometime during the middle of this year – it’s a rough, rough guess.”

The CEO said that they need to improve cost structure.

He added:

“We’re working hard to improve our costs of production, our overhead costs, our fixed costs, just costs in general.”

When Model 3 production first started back in 2017, the company told reservation holders that the base version of the Model 3 would be available in early to mid-2018.

Electrek’s Take

It looks like a lot of reservation holders have doubts about Tesla releasing the base version of the Model 3 and that change on the website sparked some fear.

I know it’s a bummer that Tesla is really late on the standard battery pack, but I do believe it is still coming – though I admit that it’s weird that Tesla removed it from its website without giving any reason.

Elon also scared me with this earlier this month:

Model 3 starting cost now ~$35k (after ~$8k of credits & fuel savings) https://t.co/46TXqRrsdr — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 6, 2019

For those who remember the Model S 40 that started at $50,000 and was quickly discontinued, it almost looks like Tesla is again trying to find a way to get out of a promised based price.

That said, I remain optimistic when it comes to the base Model 3 at $35,000. I don’t think Tesla could get away without releasing it.

And it seems doable. The company currently produces a $42,000 Model 3 with a bigger battery, glass roof and a lot of premium features that could be shaved off to get the price down. I imagine it is currently in the high $30-range with a 50kWh or smaller battery and standard interior.

What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.

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