This story is free to read.

Orders for lower-price Tesla continue to climb

CORRECTS SPELLING OF PHOTOGRAPHER'S LAST NAME TO PRITCHARD, NOT PRICHARD - Tesla Motors unveils the new lower-priced Model 3 sedan at the Tesla Motors design studio in Hawthorne, Calif., Thursday, March 31, 2016. It doesn't go on sale until late 2017, but in the first 24 hours that order banks were open, Tesla said it had more than 115,000 reservations. Long lines at Tesla stores, reminiscent of the crowds at Apple stores for early models of the iPhone, were reported from Hong Kong to Austin, Texas, to Washington, D.C. Buyers put down a $1,000 deposit to reserve the car. (AP Photo/Justin Pritchard) CORRECTS SPELLING OF PHOTOGRAPHER'S LAST NAME TO PRITCHARD, NOT PRICHARD - Tesla Motors unveils the new lower-priced Model 3 sedan at the Tesla Motors design studio in Hawthorne, Calif., Thursday, March 31, 2016. It doesn't go on sale until late 2017, but in the first 24 hours that order banks were open, Tesla said it had more than 115,000 reservations. Long lines at Tesla stores, reminiscent of the crowds at Apple stores for early models of the iPhone, were reported from Hong Kong to Austin, Texas, to Washington, D.C. Buyers put down a $1,000 deposit to reserve the car. (AP Photo/Justin Pritchard)

By Associated Press April 3, 2016 1 min read

NEW YORK (AP) – Demand for Tesla Motors’ new lower-priced electric car continued to climb over the weekend with pre-orders rising to 253,000.

CEO Elon Musk tweeted the numbers on Saturday, which jumped 28 percent from 198,000 Friday. People pay $1,000 to reserve their vehicle.

The Model 3 is less than half the cost of Tesla’s previous models, and its range is about double what drivers get from current competitors in its price range, such as the Nissan Leaf and BMW i3.

It starts at $35,000 and has a range of 215 miles per charge, which is far more than most people drive each day. The orders came from across the globe even though the car isn’t scheduled for sale until late in 2017.