PALO ALTO, April 12 — Tesla Inc yesterday started leasing out its Model 3 sedan in the United States, in a financing option that would increase the electric car maker’s customer base.

Tesla said its customers in the United States would be able to lease any Model 3 variant for a small down payment and monthly payments thereafter, but they will not have the option to buy the car at the end of the lease.

Tesla said that it would begin bundling its autopilot software as a standard feature on all cars, raising the base price, and would drop the entry-level Model 3 Standard from online ordering.

As a result, the lowest-priced Model 3 available for order on its online menu in the United States is now the US$39,500 (RM163,000) Standard Plus, which includes Autopilot.

The company in February had rolled out its long-awaited US$35,000 version of the car with great fanfare.

The company also said the Standard variant of Model 3 will now be a software-limited version of the Standard Plus, to simplify production.

As part of the changes to its online ordering, Tesla said the Model 3 Standard variant and the Model 3 Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive will be taken off the online ordering menu but will still be available for order by phone or in stores. — Reuters