Elon Musk, tech entrepreneur and inventor, has had a “Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan” for almost a decade. The company he runs, Tesla, is the first successful American car company in almost a century. Tesla Motors has produced high-end electric cars: the Tesla Model S with a range of up to 300 miles per charge (and a half charge time of only 20 minutes) and a 0-60 mph time as fast as 2.8 seconds and the Tesla Model X which Elon has called “… the best car ever. I’m not sure anyone is going to make a car like this again. I’m not sure Tesla would make a car like this again.”

Musk’s “master plan” however is just coming into force, and will soon face major setbacks. The plan, “in short,” is this:

1.       Build sports car
2.       Use that money to build an affordable car
3.       Use that money to build an even more affordable car
4.       While doing above, also provide zero emission electric power generation options

Don’t tell anyone.

Tesla recently had an early unveiling of its affordable car: a Tesla Model 3 that is planning to be sold at only $35,000 (and probably even less following electric car incentives given by individual states… as low as $25,000). Not much is known about the car itself other than a few facts. Its 0-60 time will be under 6 seconds and its range well over 200 miles, and up to 300 miles. It will come complete with Tesla’s famous software (and to potential for autopilot—to allow the car to drive itself) and a glass windowpane covering the back of the car reaching towards the front.

The most shocking part of the Model 3 is its sales. In 24 hours, after the car was released April 1st, the company took $1,000 deposits for 198,000 vehicles. As of Saturday, the car had 276,000 deposits. These number shocked analysts and even Tesla (who were expecting, at most, only half; some analysts only had 55-60,000 preordered). It makes their aim to sell 500,000 electric vehicles per year by 2020, once considered formidable, achievable. However the question remains: can Tesla produce so many cars (even with a new “gigafactory:” what will be the second largest plant in the world) and will the car live up to expectations? Only time (or perhaps the financial markets, which could continue to support Tesla even when they face delays in their production line) will tell.