Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has revealed the fifth electric member of Tesla's growing fleet: the Model Y, an all-electric crossover SUV that can reach 300 miles on a single charge.
The Tesla co-founder and CEO introduced the new electric car at an event just outside of Los Angeles on Thursday. The Model Y is expected to become available in 2020, with a price tag of $47,000.
"It has the functionality of an SUV, but it will ride like a sports car," Musk said. "So this thing will be really tight on corners."
Tesla Model Y
The vehicle Musk had unveiled is the long-range version of the Model Y, which is capable of reaching 300 miles. However, Tesla also plans to release three more versions of the electric SUV.
An all-wheel-drive dual-motor Model Y, priced at $51,000, and a performance version of the vehicle, priced at $60,000, will both roll out in 2020.
Meanwhile, a standard range version will be released in 2021. This iteration of the Model Y will have a range of 230 miles, and will relatively be more affordable at $39,000.
Tesla said that all variants of the new vehicle are already available for pre-order. Interested buyers just need to pay a $2,500 deposit.
The Baby SUV
As a full-fledged SUV, the new Tesla vehicle has more room for passengers compared to the Model 3 sedan. It can comfortably sit up to seven people at once.
Musk said the Model Y will be "the safest mid-sized SUV by far," claiming that it will earn 5-star crash ratings and notch high safety marks across the board.
The all-electric SUV also shares some similarities with Model 3, particularly, the interior. Both vehicles have similar stark looks to their interiors, complete with a 15-inch touchscreen on its dashboard and a stylish panoramic sunroof. It can also fit more items with its 66 cubic feet of cargo space.
As a Tesla vehicle, the Model Y will be fitted with several self-driving features in the future.
"The cool thing is, it's 'feature complete,'" Musk noted. "It will be able to do basically anything just with software upgrades."
Tesla plans to replicate the success of Model 3 with the release of the Model Y.
In 2018, the sedan became the best-selling electric car in North America alone. Tesla was able to 138,000 Model 3s, which was enough to beat its closest competitors. Chinese carmaker BAIC sold only 92,000 units of its electric cars, while Nissan only sold 85,000 of its Leaf vehicle.
Tesla is looking to make headway in China, which many consider is the largest market for electric vehicles in the world. The company announced that it has begun shipping Model 3s to the Asian country last month. Model 3s are also making their way to Europe for the first time.
Tesla hopes that both moves will help increase sales of the electric sedan by more than 100,000 this year.
In 2018, the automaker reached a milestone when it made $21.4 billion in total revenue for the first time in its history. However, it also posted a loss of $1 billion throughout the same year.
