It's missed the boat for being the first long range affordable EV. Hyundai got there first with the Kona, which has the range of the more expensive Model 3 Long Range but at the price of the cheaper Short Range one.
Don't get me wrong, the M3 is okay as a stripped down sporty hatchback, but the $35k model is looking a bit basic and overpriced already.
That may not be necessarily the case. Hyundai is having issues with producing an appropriate amount of battery packs[0] and it's not planning on delivering more than 2500 units to Norway in 2018. I don't think they're planning to sell more than 25k overall this year.
Sure the Model 3 is considerably less affordable, but it has scale[2].
Can you point at a source giving a similar range to the Model 3 Long Range? I googled and I found that the US EPA numbers are quite different: Kona Long Range 250, Kona short range ~166, Model 3 Long Range 334, Model 3 Standard ~220.
Well, 40 and 64kW batteries in Kona compared to 50 and 75 in Model 3. Plus Kona is only available in 24 weeks according to their website, so 6 month wait.
Don't get me wrong, the M3 is okay as a stripped down sporty hatchback, but the $35k model is looking a bit basic and overpriced already.