This is it: the Tesla Model 3

Delivering on his 10-year old promise to deliver an affordable electric car to market, Tesla boss Elon Musk last night pulled the wraps off the Tesla Model 3.

Priced at $35,000 before any tax incentives, the smallest Tesla in the current range had attracted 115,000 orders within the first 24 hours of going on sale. That number had climbed to over 130,000 90 minutes after the presentation had closed.

Only a few other specs were given for the new car, which has a strong family resemblance to the Model S. Performance of the base model will still be quicker than average – "we don’t make slow cars at Tesla," Musk quipped – with a 0-60mph time of  ‘less than six seconds’. Range will be a minimum of 215 miles.

Looking ahead, Musk also said there would be "various models that go much faster". So expect a Preposterous or Astonishing Mode – or something similar – to debut on the line-up in the future.

Luckily safety of the Model 3 is claimed to be equally stellar. Musk promised the five-door car will be awarded the top five-star safety rating in every category it’s tested in.

Autopilot, the slightly controversial semi-autonomous driving feature that debuted on the Model S – and various hair-whitening YouTube videos shortly after – is standard on the Model 3. Though you'll have to pay extra for the 'convenience' features (stuff like cruise control, auto lane-change and self parking).

Musk says the 3 will also seat five people comfortably – more comfortably than any other car of the same size. It achieves this feat by using a couple of key details: a large glass roof over the rear passenger seats to create spaciousness. And a slimline instrument panel to give front passengers more room.

This IP compression has shifted all of the normal dials, gauges and controls to a central  15-inch iPad Pro (that’s 12.9-inches for comparison)-alike screen mounted on a short stalk. Although more minimalist, it looks better resolved, more modern than the central tombstone screen in the Model S and X.

To handle all this extra load on the Supercharger network, the number of freestanding outlets around the world is next year going to be doubled from 3,608 to over 7,000. Likewise the number of outlets at destinations is going to quadruple to over 13,000 by the end of 2017.

Which is when the first Model 3s should be rolling off the Freemont, California production line. "I’m fairly confident of that date," said Musk, grinning at the assembled crowd of Tesla owners.

To handle – and drive – the huge uptick in orders and deliveries, Tesla is also going to double the number of dealers from 215 right now to 441 next year.

Such astonishing growth figures might be doubted elsewhere. But 10 years after his original predictions and promises, it’s clear Musk and Tesla have only just got started.