BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) said on Thursday it had started producing Long Range Model 3 vehicles in its Shanghai factory and aimed to deliver them to customers soon.

The company said the model would be sold at 344,050 yuan ($48,495), keeping the price steady even after China stops offering generous subsidies from July for electric vehicles that cost more than 300,000 yuan.

At present, the starting price for the cheaper Standard Range Model 3 is 271,550 yuan after the subsidy.

(Reporting by Yilei Sun and Brenda Goh; Editing by Edmund Blair)