DETROIT — The promise of an affordable electric car from Tesla Motors had hundreds of people lining up to reserve one.

Tesla planned to unveil its Model 3 on Thursday night at its Los Angeles design studio. It doesn't go on sale until late 2017, but potential buyers could reserve one with a $1,000 deposit at Tesla stores starting Thursday.

Long lines, reminiscent of the crowds at Apple stores for early models of the iPhone, were reported from Hong Kong to Austin, Texas, to Washington.

At a starting price of $35,000 — before federal and state government incentives — the Model 3 is less than half the cost of Tesla's previous models. The car is expected to have a range of at least 200 miles when fully charged, about double what drivers get from competitors in its price range, such as the Nissan Leaf and BMW i3.

Robin Santucci got the sixth spot in line when he arrived at the Santa Monica, Calif., Tesla store at 3:45 a.m. Thursday. By 9 a.m., he estimated 200 people were in line.

Santucci said he has admired Tesla for years.

“The design of every other car they've put out is beautiful,” he said.

Santucci added that he didn't want to wait too long to order a car because the federal tax credit of $7,500 will sunset once Tesla sells 200,000 vehicles in the U.S. That's likely several years away, but customers want to be sure they qualify.

The Model 3 is the most serious test yet of 13-year-old Tesla's ability to go from a niche player to a full-fledged automaker. It could be the car that finally makes electrics mainstream — or customers could be scared off by Tesla's limited number of stores, chargers and service centers. Either way, the Model 3 is already changing the industry, spurring competitors to speed development of electric cars and improve their battery range.

Tesla didn't release details about the car before the event.

Right now, Tesla sells two vehicles: The Model S sedan, which starts at $71,000, and the Model X SUV, which starts around $80,000. But a lower-priced car has been a longtime goal of Tesla CEO Elon Musk. In a 2006 blog post, Musk said Tesla planned to build “a wide range of models, including affordably priced family cars” in order to speed the world toward a solar-powered future.

The Model 3 puts Tesla within reach of millions more customers. Last year, only 2.1 percent of new cars purchased in the U.S. cost $75,000 or more, but 35 percent — or 5.5 million — cost $35,000 or more, according to TrueCar. The Model 3 is a critical part of the money-losing automaker's plan to increase sales from around 85,000 this year to 500,000 by 2020.

But Tesla faces several hurdles. U.S. buyers remain skeptical of electric cars, and low gas prices haven't helped already anemic sales. Sales of new electric vehicles grew 6 percent in the U.S. last year, but they still remain less than 1 percent of the overall vehicle market, according to IHS Automotive.