Immediately after Tesla revealed the all-new Model 3 last month and gave us a ride, we iPhoned Tesla's PR department and asked if we could shoot the Model 3 at the Gigafactory in Reno, Nevada with CEO Elon Musk. The answer came back: "Maybe. Please hold." As Model 3 pre-orders shot from 180,000 on the first day to nearly 400,000 at last count, we checked back in, pleaded, cajoled, and finally secured two out of three: a slick silver Model 3 at the Gigafactory. Turns out the guy who lands rockets on barges floating in the Atlantic is a little too busy for us.

But that's more than OK. We're honored to be the first media outlet of any kind to get time with the Model 3, especially at the much-talked-about Gigafactory. So we've pulled out all the stops. We're flying in Motor Trend testing director and resident Tesla expert Kim Reynolds for the day so that he can make his sage observations and insightful analysis. Yesterday, we stuffed a crack team of Motor Trend staffers into our long-term Honda Pilot and Kia Sedona and drove nearly 500 miles north to Reno.

Update 9: Martini shot

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The sun is just dipping behind the mountains as I write this. It is the tail end of the "golden hour" as the photographers call it - the ideal moment to capture beauty shots including, perhaps, a cover? Maybe. Stay tuned.

It's been an amazing, hectic, historic, and, yes, shockingly sad day here at the Gigafactory. We all caught push notifications to our phones that Prince passed away at 57. Still, the passing of a pop icon couldn't deter us from our mission.

We think we fully utilized the exclusive opportunity we had today and hope you agree. We read all of your comments on this live blog and enjoyed engaging with you during our two Facebook Livestreams. We also saw your replies and comments to our posts on Twitter and Instagram. You all really made our day on Snapchat; we more than doubled the number of followers to motor.trend in under ten hours. Thank you.

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Perhaps most important is that we spent quality time with the Model 3 and can verify that it is as much the real thing as its two siblings, S and X. A $35,000 electric Tesla may still seem like the stuff of pipe dreams to some hard-bitten critics, but after seeing one in action it is difficult not to be swayed by what Musk and the Tesla team have coming just around the bend. Even in prototype form, the silver Model 3 you see in Bacarella's stunning shots performed nearly flawlessly. It had a hiccup here and there with the charging but, for what we needed to accomplish, we couldn't have been happier. If or when the $35,000 Model 3 comes to market, we believe the nearly 400,000 or so early adopters will probably feel the same way.

With a final click of the shutter, Robin Trajano and Brian Vance call it. That's a wrap; the martini shot. Pack it up and let's toast another action-packed and successful day.

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Special thanks to everybody at Tesla in Palo Alto, Fremont, and Hawthorne, and especially to all the employees, PR and security team at the Gigafactory 1 in Sparks. Extra special thanks to the Motor Trend crew at HQ that got up early and stayed late to these posts up, including Zach Gale and Alex Nishimoto.

Stay tuned for more Tesla coverage. After all, this post only utilized pictures from our iPhones - we have a ton of pictures and footage to process and edit together.

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Update 8: Car to Car

The wind is really picking up, but that's OK, because our next phase of the shoot is all about action. Ever wonder how magazines get shots of cars doing what appears to be 200 mph? It's easy, you start at 20 mph and rarely go past 60. This is an old technique called car-to-car photography, and it involves the basic photographic principle of slowing down the camera shutter to create blurred wheels and background, and thus, the appearance of speed. As long as you can keep the camera and subject in the same position during the moment the image is captured, everything should work out fine. The difficulty is in the little stuff; keeping the camera steady, making sure the hero car is matching speed with the camera car, and that the road is nice and smooth.

For the shots you see in our second FaceBook Live broadcast (above), we car-to-car'd the Model 3 on the stretch of road that runs along the Tesla Gigafactory and out on to "Electric Avenue" past its security station. We kept speeds between 20 and 35 mph, while photographer Robin dialed the shutter speeds down to between 1/15 and 1/30 of a second. If you know anything about photography, you know that is pretty slow - but Robin had some help. An image stabilized lens on his Canon 1DX helps keep the image sharp, as does the old-school piece of photo gear we deployed - a gyroscope. Inside the hard metal case screwed to the bottom of Robin's camera is essentially a wheel spinning at tens of thousands of revolutions per minute (connected to an external power supply). This creates the gyroscopic stabilizing effect - making the camera hard to move, but also hard to upset, no matter what the camera car is doing.

To keep the hero car stable, well, that's just a matter of solid communication (via walkie-talkie) and slow driving speeds.

Update 7: WIND!

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We're now shooting outside, and worried. The Tesla security guys we've been working with have informed us that a strong wind typically blows through in the afternoon - with gusts up to 50 mph. This is troubling for a couple of reasons: the Gigafactory is basically one huge construction site and the wind is going to wreak havoc on our drone and kick up a bunch of dust during our shoot. We need to move fast.

Travis sends up his DJI Phantom 3 Pro "unmanned aerial vehicle" into the air and quickly grabs fly by video footage of the Gigafactory. The photogs grab dusters and start cleaning the dust that has already accumulated. As the wind picks up, they set up for the next phase - still photos.

High clouds provide soft, even light that bring out the creases and curves of the Model 3. I ask Kim what he thinks now that he's had a chance to see the baby Tesla in the hard-ish light of day.

"It's really quite attractive, as you walk around it," he says, "Until you get to the front. Head on, it looks a bit like a 'pod-car'."

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I take a moment to slowly circle the 3 and indeed - from head on, as the rear disappears, the low frontal area seems to also shrink down, dominated by the large greenhouse. The cartoon "Pinky and the Brain" comes to mind. But the headlights look fantastic - like a combination of current C7 and something from a new Porsche. They have beautiful, complex folds, which provide futuristic style to the smooth, grille-less nose.

From the hard side angle, the Model 3's DLO (daylight openings - designer speak for windows and front/rear windshield) really do seem to dominate the lower half of the car. More attractive is the rear three-quarter view, which accentuate strong lines in the rear flank, and the more subtle creases and details. The 20-inch wheels are perfectly sized, and help give it a stance as athletic as its bigger brother. Big props to Franz for accomplishing all of this in such a small package. And for details, like how the small, fixed spoiler pops up and out. It looks like it was gently pulled forth as the liquid sheetmetal cooled. The longer you look, the more details pop out - many carried over from the Model S, like the chrome window surrounds, blacked out B-pillars, and winglet side-mirror supports. It's clearly not a Model S, but there is no mistaking who is its Daddy.

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The overall look of the Model 3 is sporty, but not in a flashy or excessive way. Like the Model S, it doesn't scream dorky green car, but exudes a high level of cool. It also manages to look expensive, in the same way the Model S does - even though it promises to start around $35,000. The wind is picking up, so action shots - and a Facebook Live broadcast - coming next. Stay tuned!

Update 6: The Roof

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After our Facebook Live broadcast, we moved the Model 3 outside in preparation for some beauty shots. We were going to livestream the vehicle exiting the building, but the doorway - a standard double office doorway - is a pretty tight squeeze. The move required Tesla employees act as spotters, and we were asked not to get their faces on camera, so we did the next best thing: move to the roof for a better vantage point.

Before being allowed beyond the Gigafactory's lobby, Tesla staff provided a quick reminder of safety and security. Attractive hardhats, high-visibility safety vests and protective glasses were issued. As we put them on, Tesla PR reminded us that photo and video during our stroll through the Gigafactory was forbidden - primarily because of the proprietary equipment and manufacturing techniques on display and because we couldn't get releases on everyone we might see.

Cameras holstered, we stepped beyond the lobby doors, onto carpet, and immediately into somebody's meeting. Oops - sorry! Sitting in front of a screen were some Tesla employees, apparently engaged in a typical business meeting, complete with what looked to be a dreaded PowerPoint presentation. Standard stuff, as compared to what you imagine goes on in Iron Man's lair.

Stepping off the carpet onto hard concrete, we entered a huge room with only a regular arrangement of posts to break up the volume. This shared space appeared to combine the factory floor and office area. A few conference rooms and high-top tables separated by dividers - ostensibly for meetings large and small - sat at one side of the building next to rows of low-walled cubicles. Just beyond began the aisles of workstations set aside for manufacturing - with no separation from the beeps and buzzes for the cubicle dwellers.

On our way to the elevator that would take us to the roof, we walked through this light manufacturing area and saw workers assembling what appeared to be refrigerators - presumably the industrial-use Powerpack battery units. Instead of automation or fancy robots, we saw carts, drills, and good-old-fashioned American elbow grease being applied.

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A slow cargo elevator took us up four floors to the roof, at which point several Motor Trend staffers promptly went blind. Holy moly it is bright out here. The entire roof of the Gigafactory - all 800,000 square feet of it - is painted bright white and the team members without sunglasses (Chris Bacarella and Robin Trajano) instantly regretted it.

We strolled slowly across the vast white rooftop, while waiting for our eyes and minds to adjust to the seemingly unending plain in front of us.

"Unless you're up here you don't really know what it is," said our PR guide. "People say it looks like a salt lake." That is exactly what it looks like.

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The crazy part is this immense field represents only 14 percent of the area of the finished Gigafactory roof. It is every size superlative in the dictionary. You can't really appreciate the immensity of the building until you see the scale model down in the lobby. For reference, we chatted with another employee who said that some Tesla workers exercise by running around the building, doing "Giga laps." A current Giga-lap measures 1.4 miles - but will be closer to a marathon when the project is complete.

Our shoot from the top is tricky: running the entire border of the roof is a wall at least 5 feet high. To shoot down, we need a platform to stand on to clear it. Luckily there is one, and it's portable. With the lift, we can see all the area Tesla has started to clear for the Gigafactory expansion and, again, the scale of what is being attempted is simply, quietly mind-blowing.

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Update 5: You have questions, we have - some - answers.

As you see below, we just did a live walkaround of the Model 3 in Tesla's lobby on our Facebook page via Facebook Live. Check it out. Stay tuned: Another one is coming soon with shots of the Model 3 in action.

While we were on, Chris, Kim, and I tried to answer a few of your questions. In case you missed it, here are the answers again.

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Question: Why can't you show us the inside?

Answer: We asked, but Tesla prefers us not to show up-close shots of the interior, specifically the view of the dashboard, center-stack, or driver's cockpit. Why? Because while this is a running prototype, it's not quite finished - and according to Kim, the interior could dramatically change by the time the production Model 3 starts shipping. No need to get people worked up…

Question: Please open the trunk and frunk!

Answer: Sorry, we asked and can't do that either. Again, this Model 3 isn't quite ready for primetime.

Question: Where is the charging port?

Answer: Good question! The design intent is for the charging port to be where it is on the Model S - disguised as the left rear taillight. This prototype we have doesn't have that built in yet, so the charging port is hidden.

Question: Zero to 60, quarter-mile, and top speed?

Answer: We don't know those numbers either, but Musk did say during the reveal that the Model 3 would hit 60 in under 6 seconds.

Question: Where else can I find more details on the car?

Answer: Great question. Check out our First Look here, our First Ride here, and follow us on Snapchat at motor.trend and Facebook Live for more behind the scenes updates.

Use this Snapcode to follow motor.trend on Snapchat:

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Update 4

This is my first time laying eyes on it in the metal and I'm kind of a slow burn when it comes to design evaluation. I really need to see it on the road, at significant enough offset to take it all in, without having to run my eyeballs all over it. Inside Tesla's lobby, the lines have that family crispness to them, and I like the rear haunches. It has really good flow from front to back. As Brian Vance noted (below), the glass roof is really quite impressive up close. As are the door handles, which are reminiscent of a GT-R or Aston Martin. They don't pop out electronically to greet you, but flip out with light pressure and then trigger an automatic door popper.

Update 3



Watch the Tesla Model 3 quick walkaround tour from the Gigafactory RIGHT HERE:

Update 2



After passing through security, we park in the gravel lot that Tesla has kindly cleared for us and walk up to the lobby. And boom, there she is: a gleaming Model 3 surrounded by stanchions connecting red and white barrier tape and signs saying "Please Do Not Touch or Share the Images."

Reynolds and social media lead Chris Bacarella inform me that this is the same Model 3 that was used for rides at the Tesla Design center reveal.

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First impressions are key in the auto business, so as our shoot got underway, I took a quick survey of the Motor Trend team:

"It looks much better in person; pictures don't do it justice," said Motor Trend staff photographer Robin Trajano, without one trace of irony. "The proportions don't really work in picture but in person looks really good. I wouldn't mind owning one."

His boss, Motor Trend's visuals manager Brian Vance, went for specifics, "It really does have a lot of his Mazda concepts in it, like the lines." Vance is referring to Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla's head of design, who was at Mazda prior to joining the company. "I can't believe the entire roof is glass. It's two pieces (three if you count the windshield) but in the right light, looks like one piece."

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Video producer Travis Labella quipped, "My first impression? That I'm going to be seeing a lot of these on the road very soon. It's the future. It's my kind of future."

Our always thoughtful Reynolds remarked that the Model 3 is a "well-metered blend of classical automotive cues and future-car fantasies. The nose has attitude and its flanks are streaked with athletic, visual tendons -- but it's the tall greenhouse and glass-bubble roof that will define this car. This is not another slot-window sedan saying 'Don't see me.' The Model 3's square yards of glazing shatter that isolation, opening you to the whole, passing world. Taken together, its this new visual vocabulary for the modern electric car."

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We finished with Bacarella, who echoed Trajano; "In daylight, it definitely looks better. Seeing it up close, the lines look a lot better, crisper. At the nighttime design center reveal, it was super dark and there was a DJ light show going on."

"I think it's pretty sexy. I want one," Bacarella said with a smile, while gripping the two iPhones he's using to push out a constant stream of updates to Motor Trend's Twitter, FaceBook, Instagram, and Snapchat accounts. Follow us there for more behind the scenes action.

Update 1

Our first ever, exclusive photo shoot of the Model 3 is taking place at Tesla's Gigafactory 1. This is not actually in Reno -- that's just the biggest little city nearby. Tesla's massive battery factory is 29 miles east of Reno near the town of Sparks, Nevada. Sparks. Yes. Purely coincidental I'm sure.

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Having read about Tesla's plans for the Gigafactory, it's quite an amazing sight to see up close. In the metric system, giga means billion (1,000,000,000), which is the scale that comes to mind as you approach the security booth. Billions of dollars, billions of pounds of earth moved, steel assembled, and billions of feet of electric wiring. The Gigafactory is currently only about 14 percent complete, yet its footprint so far is about 800,000 square feet, with 1.9 million square feet of manufacturing space spread across four stories, according to the local newspaper, the Reno Gazette-Journal. When completed in 2020, the Gigafactory's footprint will be 5.8 million square feet, or about the same area as 100 football fields. This will give it one of the largest footprints of any building in the world, although according to Wikipedia, it will be behind the Aalsmeer Flower Auction building in the Netherlands which has a whopping 10.6 million square feet.

What's Tesla going to do with all of this space? Produce lithium-ion batteries for use in Tesla vehicles and home/business storage products. Currently, battery cell partners include Panasonic. According to Reynolds, the automotive equivalent is akin to Ford's iconic River Rouge plant. Currently no cells or batteries are being produced at the Gigafactory, they're shipped in from Tesla's Fremont, California facility. Workers at the Gigafactory are assembling Tesla Powerwall battery packs (for home use) and Powerpacks (for industrial use).

Eventually, when this $5 billion dollar investment is complete, Tesla hopes to produce 35 gigawatt-hours of battery power. That would be enough to power 500,000 Teslas. More updates coming, including a Facebook Live broadcast in a couple hours. Find tons of behind the scenes footage on Snapchat (motor.trend).

On board with us are ace shooters -- Brian Vance and Robin Trajano handling still photography, master storyteller/producer Travis Labella on video and drone, and social media manager Chris Bacarella, who will be broadcasting our shoot across Twitter and Instagram. Speaking of broadcast, we will be updating live from the shoot via Snapchat (motor.trend) and Facebook Live, as we did yesterday:

We're honored to be the first media outlet of any kind to get time with the Model 3, especially at the much-talked-about Gigafactory.

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Tesla Model 3 photos from the automaker and from the launch event:

