Tesla will begin production of its first mass-market electric vehicle this month, CEO Elon Musk said Monday, meeting an ambitious goal that was widely questioned in the auto industry. Tesla will make its first production model of the Model 3 electric car on Friday, Musk said on Twitter. The company will celebrate by holding a "handover party" for the first 30 Model 3 buyers on July 28, he said. For more than a year, Tesla had targeted summer 2017 for the launch of the Model 3, which carries a base price of $35,000 before tax credits. The car gets 215 miles of range on a battery charge.