When Tesla first revealed the Model 3, CEO Elon Musk promised first deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2017. While the project could still be on its original timeline, Tesla?s annual 10-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 1 revealed an interesting detail about the state of development of Tesla?s Model 3 program: that it has yet to complete a beta prototype vehicle.
From the filing: ?We expect that the next performance milestone to be achieved will be the successful completion of the Model 3 Beta Prototype, which would be achieved upon the determination by our Board of Directors that an eligible prototype has been completed. Candidates for such prototype are among the vehicles that we are currently building as part of our ongoing testing of our Model 3 vehicle design and manufacturing processes.? In other words, Tesla has not ?completed? a Model 3 ?beta prototype? as of, well, either of these two dates: December 31, 2016 (the period that the SEC filing covers), or March 1, 2017 (the date on which the document was filed). Pick your poison.

Some of this comes down to semantics. Tesla also implies that it has completed an ?alpha prototype? of the Model 3. What?s the difference between an ?alpha prototype? and a ?beta prototype? in Tesla?s definition of the language" Only Tesla knows
Tesla showed the Model 3 at an event on March 31, 2016. There were three cars on stage, two of which were actually drivable?the black and silver ones. A ...