Tesla Model 3 display cars are popping up in more and more showrooms across the United States. The Inquisitr previously reported that the car had started appearing in Tesla showrooms in Manhattan, Boston, and Miami. Now, the new mass-market electric vehicle has been added to showrooms in Washington D.C.; Scottsdale, Arizona; and Dallas, Texas, Inside EVs reported. It has also been included in two showrooms in California, in San Diego and Newport Beach.
As Inside EVs noted, it’s interesting that Tesla has added a Model 3 display unit to a showroom in Dallas because Texas has banned the company from selling their vehicles within state lines. Other states that have banned Tesla due to dealership issues include West Virginia, Utah, and Connecticut.
Even though the Model 3 vehicles are on display, Tesla isn’t allowing test drives just yet. You can sit in it and get a feel for the car, but you can’t drive it. This probably won’t dissuade Tesla enthusiasts from putting down their deposits as over 400,000 people placed deposits on the vehicle before it was even in showrooms.
What could dissuade them are reports of a Tesla Model 3 battery flaw. Earlier this week, CNBC reported that two Tesla engineers had requested anonymity to disclose that the gap between the cells in the lithium-ion battery isn’t wide enough. This could cause the battery to short, they said. In a worst-case scenario, it could cause the battery to catch on fire. The engineers also claimed that they tried to tell their managers about this crucial error in the battery’s configuration, but their concerns were ignored.
Elon Musk’s mass-market car is a magic carpet ride -Read our review of the Tesla Model 3 https://t.co/cZ1dBfMbKV pic.twitter.com/eSKPo7o0cL
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) January 20, 2018
According to CNBC , Tesla responded by denying any claims that they would ship a vehicle with a malfunctioning component that threatens the safety of both drivers and passengers. The idea is “contrary to all evidence, and detached from reality,” a Tesla spokesperson said in an email interview to CNBC .
The spokesperson added that each battery in the Tesla Model 3 has thousands of cells. The majority of these cells have the same voltage potential as the others. So, there would be no consequence if two of these cells touch.
“It would be as if two neutral pieces of metal touched,” the Tesla rep added.
They also maintained that the cell positions in the Tesla Model 3 battery are tested twice during manufacture to verify that it is safe.
Tesla Model 3 delays persist, reportedly due to Gigafactory problems https://t.co/SgOoU8LUZZ pic.twitter.com/gEi9DmlQxZ
— The Verge (@verge) January 27, 2018
