CALIFORNIA (WASHINGTON POST) - The public is getting its first look at Tesla's completed Model 3, more than a year after the electric car was first announced by chief executive Elon Musk.

On Sunday (July 9), Mr Musk tweeted a couple of photos showing off the Model 3, a battery-powered vehicle priced for mainstream Tesla consumers.

The images bear a strong resemblance to the car he first revealed in 2016. Although he said the first car would have gone to Mr Ira Ehrenpreis, a venture capitalist who founded DBL Partners, Mr Ehrenpreis "gave those rights to me as a 46th birthday present", Mr Musk said on Twitter.

The highly anticipated vehicle is expected to be delivered to the first 30 people on Tesla's massive waitlist later this month.

With more than 370,000 pending reservations for a Model 3, Tesla has its work cut out.

Analysts believe the car could help jump-start the spread of pure-electric vehicles in the United States, but only if the company is successful at keeping its factory running at top speed.

The company has been plagued by production issues in the past, and these have led to concerns about Tesla's ability to keep up with demand.

Mr Musk has predicted that by December, Tesla will be finishing Model 3s at a rate of 20,000 a month.