Elon Musk compared losing Tesla Model 3 pre-orders to selling hamburgers

Tesla's new Model 3 is the talk of the town after its flashy debut, but a large chunk of early adopters got cold feet and canceled their reservations before mass-production even started.

Elon Musk said on Tesla's quarterly earnings call that around 63,000 early reservations for the Model 3 were cancelled since the pre-order portal opened, according to Recode. The total number of orders went from an estimated 518,000 to 455,000, once the nixed reservations were considered.

Musk called the chunk of cancellations "inconsequential." He noted that they spanned over a year's time and Tesla could very easily provide incentives for more pre-orders if it wanted to — but with such a large number of people already waiting for their Model 3s and deliveries that might not even reach customers until November or December, there's no reason to push for more hype.

He compared the situation to running a restaurant jammed on a busy night. "There’s like an hour and a half wait for hamburgers," he said. "Do you really want to encourage more people to order more hamburgers?"

Tesla is receiving an average of 1,800 new orders for the Model 3 every day, according to information provided on the call. Those reservations won't result in actual deliveries until well into next year — but right now, Tesla estimates new orders will be filled between "12 and 18 months." Impatient reservation holders can get a more exact delivery projection by checking with the company.

Putting down $1,000 for a car before actually seeing it in person was a huge commitment for most people (reservations are refundable, however), so it's unsurprising that some people cancelled their orders. As more details about the car, its features, and the long S-Curve production timeline leaked out, its raised at least some uncertainties about how successful this vehicle will actually be.

The Model 3 is undoubtedly one of the most exciting car launches in recent memory, but the actual features available at the much-ballyhooed $35,000 price point might not give everyone what they expect in a Tesla. That, and the long wait for hamburgers the cars, might have caused some people to think twice about their order.