Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/667669
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 17 APRIL 2016 Motoring VII TESLA has reportedly received nearly 400,000 deposits for its new Model 3, which has now become their best selling prod- uct of all time. The order now corresponds to more than $14 billion (£9.95bn) worth of potential sales. This would see the firm's Gigafac- tory, which has an expected an- nual output of 500,000 batteries a year, using the vast majority of its production capacity for the Model 3. The first video footage of a Te- sla Model 3 in the wild surfaced online earlier this week. A staggering 276,000 deposits were put down in the first 72 hours of the order books being opened, with 117,000 of those orders placed before the car had been unveiled. The Model 3, unveiled at a launch event in California, is the fourth all-electric model to come from Tesla and is the affordable car that company owner Elon Musk says he set out to build from the very beginning. Like Tesla's other models, the all-new Model 3 boasts some impressive headline figures. Although exact specifications have not yet been confirmed, the car is claimed, its most basic form, to be capable of accelerating from 0-60mph in less than six seconds, and able to eke out more than 250 miles from one charge. It can do this while seating five adults "comfortably", says Musk. He also says that no combustion-engined car of this size could offer as much cabin space. Thanks to the lack of combustion engine up front, front-row passengers sit further forward than normal, freeing up more space for those behind. A single-pane panoramic sunroof also gives the cabin a more open feel. Like the Model S, there are two boot compartments – one at the front and one at the back. Musk makes some bold claims for safety, saying that it has come first in the car's development. He expects the Model 3 to be awarded five stars in every safety category. All Model 3s will come with Tesla's latest autopilot features as standard. They will also have a tablet-style, dash-mounted infotainment system, much like that of the Model S. Deliveries are expected to kick off in late 2017, with cars priced at $35,000 (about £25,000), although this is expected to grow once external and UK import costs are accounted for to nearer £35,000. The Model 3 will rival the likes of the BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Audi A4. All Model 3s will come with access to Tesla's network of Supercharger stations, but it has not yet been confirmed if their use will be free for Model 3 owners, despite this currently being the case for the Model S. Currently there are 3600 Super- chargers worldwide, but Tesla wants to double this number by the end of 2017, while exceed- ing 7000 end-of-destination chargers by the same date. There will also be more than 441 Tesla servicing stations across the globe by the end of 2017. In anticipation of the Model 3's growing demand, Tesla wants to build 500,000 batteries a year. Its newly built Gigafac- tory, which has the largest footprint of any building of any kind, will produce more lithium ion batteries than all other lithium ion battery production combined. "Why are we making the Model 3? Because we want to accelerate the transition to a future of sustainable transport," Musk said at the car's launch event. "The world is now at record high CO2 levels and we recent- ly passed 400 parts per million of CO2. To address this, we came up with the Tesla secret masterplan. It was originally a trilogy; now it's a four-part tril- ogy," he continued. "With any technology, it takes many iterations before you can make it low in price and high in volume. The Roadster was a low-volume, high-price car, and the Model S and X are mid-vol- ume, mid-price products. The Model 3 is therefore our high- volume, affordable-price model. It's only been possible to reach this after the prior models." Tesla Model 3 orders approach 400,000 Rolls-Royce reveals yacht- inspired Nautical Wraith DETAILS have emerged of a one-off, yacht-inspired Rolls- Roycecalled the Nautical Wraith, which has been made for an unnamed international customer. Painted in Arabian Blue with an Orchid White roof and featuring an anchor emblem by the door handles and above the centre console, the interior is heavily influenced by luxury yachts with a dashboard made of Santos Palisander and Tudor Oak. Rolls-Royce was unable to confirm the price of the Nauti- cal Wraith or its buyer, but it did say that, as a large portion of its customers also have an interest in boats, more yacht- inspired models could appear in the future. The Wraith is not the first Nautical edition commissioned by Rolls-Royce. In 2015, details of a Nautical Phantom surfaced, which featured an anchor motif on both the inte- rior and exterior, as well as a bespoke compass stored in the telephone drawer. Rolls-Royce is renowned for launching exclusive versions of its cars. An unnamed American customer, who was a fan of the detective television show In- spector Morse, commissioned a Wraith inspired by the iconic red and black Jaguar Mark 2 that appears in the series. Other one-off examples include the Celestial Phantom, which featured 446 diamonds embedded in the door-cap- pings and centre console, and the Phantom Coupé Chicane, in which the interior wood fin- ish was replaced with carbon fibre. Rolls-Royce is one of a small number of manufacturers that build bespoke models for devoted customers. In 2012, Ferrari designed a one-off, 512 BB-inspired 458 for singer and guitarist Eric Clapton. McLaren also offers bespoke projects for its customers via its Special Operations team, which has produced the likes of the 12C- based X-1.