Tesla's highly-anticipated Model 3 brings technology questions

The ravenous feeding habits of the 24-hour news cycle rarely turn toward automotive transportation, and usually only when a disaster has happened, such as Toyota's acceleration mess or Volkswagen's diesel cheating. Recently it was Tesla Motors' turn to feed the beast with the unveiling of its long-anticipated Model 3, the battery-electric compact sedan which had successfully remained under cover because Job One still is almost two years away.

“Traditional” automakers don't normally lift their skirts quite so early in the development process, when the mules are still circulating as taped-together Frankensteins with shear-cut holes. But here were three glossy Model 3s, perhaps the only driveable examples in existence, giving rides to the 650 or so attendees at a boisterous launch party behind the headquarters of SpaceX, Tesla's sister company in Hawthorne, CA.