Elon Musk, trying his damnedest to manage expectations, is now warning Tesla fans to hurry up and reserve a Model 3 before the delivery queue stretches to 2019.
"Tesla is increasing the production ramp as fast as possible," Musk said, "but I'd recommend ordering a Model 3 soon if you want 2018 delivery."
In a single week, existing and potential Tesla owners reserved a total of 325,000 Model 3s, paying $1,000 per car to wait in line for an optimistic late-2017 launch. More have probably lined up in the weeks since.
Tesla has a history of pushing back its own delivery deadlines, but just yesterday the company reaffirmed that it's "on track" to start shipping the Model 3 before 2018. We'll see about that.
Tesla, by the way, expects to ship 500,000 cars a year by 2018.
Tesla never promised to deliver any specific number of Model 3s in 2017 -- nor have Tesla fans committed to paying a full $35,000 (or more) for the company's first mass-market vehicle; they simply put $1,000 down.
Still, the level of interest in the Model 3 is pretty remarkable: 24 hours after Tesla opened up for preorders, the company raked in 180,000 $1,000 preorders, or $7.5 billion in theoretical sales.