On the morning of March 31, 2016, tens of thousands of people waited in lines to place the refundable deposit to reserve a Model 3 for 2017 delivery.
[74][75] During the Model 3 unveiling event, Tesla said that over 115,000 people had reserved the Model 3 in less than 24 hours prior;
[76][77] more cars than Tesla had sold by that time.
[31] Twenty-four hours after opening reservations, Tesla had advanced orders for over 180,000 cars.
[78][79] Two days later, Tesla said they had 232,000 reservations.
[31][80]
One week after the unveiling, Tesla said it had over 325,000 reservations, more than triple the number of
Model S sedans sold by the end of 2015.
[31][32] Musk said that 5% of reservations correspond to the maximum of two vehicles allowed per customer, "suggesting low levels of speculation",
[81] and that 93% of Model 3 reservations are from new buyers who do not currently own a Tesla.
[63] The previous record for advance deposits on a car was the 1955
Citroën DS that had 80,000 deposits during the ten days of the
Paris Auto Show, while the Model 3 had 232,000 reservations in two days.
[31]