Tesla to start taking orders for a $45,000 mid-range model

The new lower-cost model is about $4,000 less than the starting price of the sedan that went on sale last year

FILE - In this Sept. 29, 2015, file photo, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors Inc., talks about the Model X car at the company's headquarters, in Fremont, Calif. Electric auto brand Tesla Inc. says it has secured land in Shanghai for its first factory outside the United States, pushing ahead despite mounting U.S.-Chinese trade tensions. The company said it signed an agreement on a 210-acre (84-hectare) site. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
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Tesla's long-promised $35,000 version of the Model 3 sedan is still nowhere to be found, but it’s inching closer to that price point.

The electric-car maker has started taking orders for a mid-range battery Model 3 that goes about 260 miles between charges for $45,000. That’s about $4,000 less than the starting price of the sedan that went on sale last year, excluding incentives or options.

While Tesla is making the Model 3 more accessible to some buyers, it’s raising the price tag on the long-range battery to $54,000. That version of the sedan boasts 310 miles of driving range, plus a faster top speed and zero-to-60 time.

Chief executive Elon Musk noted in a tweet that the mid-range Model 3 costs $35,000 after federal and state tax rebates in California, but the clock is ticking on buyers being able to get a big chunk of those savings.

Tesla buyers will no longer be able to get the full $7,500 federal tax credit after December 31 because the company reached the 200,000 sales threshold in July. That incentive will be cut in half for the first six months of 2019, and then gets halved again for the following six months.

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