Buyers who order the new lower-cost “standard-range” $35,000 Tesla Model 3 electric car and expect to receive it in two to four weeks might be in for a surprise.

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk says it could take until the end of June.

Those who order the car online must put down a non-refundable $2,500 deposit. The order page on the Tesla site reads “Estimated Delivery: 2-4 weeks.”

But Musk said it could take four months. He announced the $35,000 base-price Model 3 in a conference call with reporters and bloggers on Thursday, but his delivery timeline drew little coverage. (At that price, the car is available only in black and without autopilot.)


“The priority is for longtime reservation holders so we would first need to assess how many of the long term reservation holders want the $35,000 car,” he said in the call. “It is very likely that someone who orders will get the car in the U.S. by the end of June.”

Asked to clarify the difference between the website estimate and Musk’s, a Tesla spokesman said to “refer to what Elon said on the call, since he was quite clear on that point.”

russ.mitchell@latimes.com

Twitter: @russ1mitchell