God bless Elon Musk's twitter feed. Free of embargo (and occasionally filter), it's a snapshot into the mind of this driven billionaire and the companies he runs. And thanks to some late Sunday night (or early Monday morning) Twitter action, we now know that Tesla Model 3 electric vehicle is just about to go into production. The fact that the car is, if anything, slightly ahead of schedule should serve as a rebuttal to those who have criticized Musk for an inability to meet deadlines.

Model 3 passed all regulatory requirements for production two weeks ahead of schedule. Expecting to complete SN1 on Friday — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 3, 2017

Musk says that production volume will grow exponentially, raising the frightening thought of having to abandon what's left of Planet Earth once all its raw materials have been used to turn into electric cars:

Handover party for first 30 customer Model 3's on the 28th! Production grows exponentially, so Aug should be 100 cars and Sept above 1500. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 3, 2017

More seriously though, production needs to ramp up quickly to deal with the huge backlog of orders already on hand:

Looks like we can reach 20,000 Model 3 cars per month in Dec — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 3, 2017

The car is a stripped-down, mass market version of the Model S sedan that first arrived in 2012. The Model S showed the auto industry that it was possible to build a compelling EV with acceptable range and have people buy them. The Model 3 is about showing the industry that Tesla can build to scale, and at a price far below its current range.

Options will be extremely limited. You can choose the wheels and the color of the paint for a Model 3, but everything else about them will be standardized, presumably in large part to keep costs down and production speed up. And yes, that means the cabin really will be that minimalist, with a large touchscreen display mounted to the center of the dash and nothing else.

On the other hand, expect the ability to add new features down the road via (paid) software unlocks. All Model 3s will include the same sensors and processors, and Tesla is not bound by the kinds of contracts that essentially forbid mainstream OEMs from adding new features to owners' vehicles without a trip to the local dealership. The difference between a possible Tesla Model 3 with (for example) a 75kWh battery and the latest semi-autonomous driving aids, and one with a smaller capacity battery and simple cruise control is nothing more than a few check marks in a database and some authentication keys. (While we don't have the exact launch specifications yet, the company has offered similar paid software upgrades in the past.)