Tesla Model 3 begins production

Unveiled in 2016 to a staggering ~325,000 reservations in a single week, the Model 3 was step three of Tesla's master plan: an electric car for the masses. Production began in July 2017 and immediately ran into what Musk called "production hell" — a brutal ramp that pushed the company to the edge of bankruptcy as it learned to build cars at volume.

Tesla survived, and the Model 3 went on to become the best-selling plug-in electric car in the world for years running, and the first EV to surpass one million cumulative sales. With strong range, fast charging and the same software-first philosophy as its bigger siblings, it turned electric driving from a niche curiosity into a mainstream choice.

More than any single product, the Model 3 proved that affordable, desirable electric cars could be built and sold at scale — and dragged the entire auto industry toward an electric future.