Tesla will reveal the final production Model 3 in July

Tesla is going to show Tesla 3 buyers what their call will officially look like in July, Elon Musk revealed on Twitter on Thursday. The Model 3’s first unveiling took place in April of 2016, where it said cameras weren’t allowed (unless they were built into your phone). Because smartphones are as good as they are, we got a fairly decent look at what the Model 3 looked like at the time, but the car maker isn’t showing off what CEO Elon Musk terms ‘final’ hardware until July: A lot can change in over a year.

The Model 3 has been spotted since April, of course; Tesla has official press images, and had one sitting in a garage at its solar tile product unveiling late last year. The company has also shown off a short video of the “release candidate” version of the car accelerating quickly out of a parking lot, and the car looked relatively similar to what we saw at the unveiling.

More recently, spy shots have also been circulating, as those release candidate vehicles are going through the paces in real-world testing in and around Tesla HQ, where anyone with a camera can snap a spy shot. The images from this Autoblog gallery (more photos at the source) again don’t reveal much in the way of dramatic changes from what was on stage last April, but it does bear a more direct resemblance to the Model S than it did originally, which is likely a good thing given general reaction to the more expensive car’s design.

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Surface resemblance aside, Musk and Tesla have taken steps lately to remind people that the Model 3 is not the top-end vehicle in Tesla’s lineup. The CEO said on Twitter in March that the Model 3 is clearly the lower-specced option, despite what some may think about it being some kind of “upgrade” in terms of tech because it follows the Model S chronologically.

In July we should also get clarity on the exact specifications and capabilities of the Mode 3. What we know so far is that it will have a minimum of 215 miles of range from its electric battery, and that it will cost $35,000 U.S. prior to incentives for the base model. Musk also teased a forthcoming “Performance model” in the works, but noted that this wouldn’t be available for sale for at least a year from now.