The company has said it expects to offer the standard model by the end of the year.

In the meantime, the company is moving to take the Model 3 farther upscale. Mr. Musk said two more variants were now available for order — an all-wheel-drive version starting at $54,000, and a high-performance model at $78,000.

Earlier this month Tesla said it was making about 2,000 Model 3s a week and was working to eliminate glitches and bottlenecks at its factory in Fremont, Calif., to lift that to 5,000 a week by the end of June. Last summer, Mr. Musk said he hoped Tesla would be making that many Model 3s by the end of 2017, but the streamlining work has proved more difficult than expected.

Toni Sacconaghi, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Company, said it was not unusual for companies to produce higher-priced, more profitable models when they start making a new vehicle. But Tesla risks frustrating its customers if the most affordable version isn’t available soon, he said.

The Model 3 “was dubbed the first mass-market car, and a year after launch, we’re getting more higher-priced versions and the $35,000 model isn’t out,” he said.