Tesla Motors is coming closer to unveiling its anticipated mass-market electric car.
In interviews with the automotive press, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has revealed the $35,000 Tesla 3 sedan is on course for a 2017 availability date. Whether it will be badged as the Tesla 3 or the Tesla III has yet to be determined. Competitively, it will be targeted at the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C Class cars.
The new vehicle will achieve its price target (about half of the $70,000 tag on the company's flagship Tesla S model) largely by utilizing less costly, older-generation battery technology that will limit the Tesla 3's range to about 200 miles. The S model averages about 311 miles per electronic fill-up. The Tesla 3 is thought to be about 20 percent smaller that the S, and the lighter weight helps squeeze more range out of the battery.
A $35,000 sticker price already puts the Tesla 3 into the price range of current-generation electric vehicles such as the Nissan Leaf and the Chevrolet Volt. The Tesla 3, as a luxury brand, would seem to have an advantage over those two models.
According to Musk, Tesla 3 drivers should expect similar performance numbers to the Tesla S. "We want people to fall in love with their cars and look forward to driving it," he says.
Should the Tesla 3 become wildly successful, as industry analysts say it could, Tesla will be hard pressed to mass produce the vehicle due to current battery production limitations. One of those limitations is due to the location of battery-producing factories, most of which are in Asia.
That is why Tesla is taking bids right now from several states (Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas) to construct a battery Gigafactory that is slated to produce 500,000 batteries per year by 2020.
Financing for the Tesla Gigafactory will come from Tesla and its partners. Tesla itself is putting in $2 billion of its own money, other investors will kick in another $2-$3 billion. The Gigafactory may employ up to 6,500 people. The Gigafactory will feature a solar and wind energy plant adjacent to the site that will be at least as big as the factory itself.
The Gigafactory will manufacture new battery packages and rebuild recycled batteries. The Gigafactory production capacity will be large enough to make batteries for other electric vehicles by other makers.
Mass production of these batteries will also lower per-unit costs, making the Tesla 3 at $35.000 a possibility. The Gigafactory is a crucial development for Tesla in any case, since there is no possibility of manufacturing a mass-production electric vehicle without it.
