Tesla’s Model 3 big launch could rival Apple's iPhone: Gene Munster

Tesla’s introduction of the Model 3 sedan could be as big of a hit as the introduction of Apple’s iPhone, according to one tech industry veteran.

In an interview on FOX Business’ Varney & Co., Loup Ventures’ Gene Munster said Tesla is doing for the electric car what Apple did for the mobile phone--rebranding it as a computer in your pocket.

“We think Tesla Model 3 has the same opportunity to change a car to being an autonomous electric vehicle which changes the entire paradigm around travel,” he said.

Munster said the affordability of the Model 3 is what’s lacking in consumer sentiment over Tesla’s latest creation. Loup Ventures compared the likely cost of owning a Model 3 to a Toyota Camry and found Tesla’s overall cost 13 percent more over a five-year period.

“The sticker price is very different, 42 percent, so they kind of put all this together as an affordable autonomous electric car [that] can have the same dramatic impact on a paradigm shift the iPhone had,” Munster said.

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The new vehicle will cost $35,000--nearly half the price of Tesla’s first release, the Model S. Musk took to social media and shared a picture of the first Tesla Model 3 vehicle parked in front of Tesla's production plant in Fremont, California.

Munster, who owns Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) stocks, said he’s only been in a Tesla once and it was a “game changing” experience.

“I believe that as these Model 3 start to make it into the market place over the next year people will get exposed to this new driving experience and I think it’s really going to go viral in terms of the demand for this car,” he said.