Tell me Y
The world has been eagerly awaiting the smaller and more affordable Tesla model 3 family car, and Tesla is scheduled to start deliveries to the first customers soon. But even as this goes ahead, the company’s plans to expand into other areas of the car business show no signs of slowing down.
Tesla’s founder and chief executive, Elon Musk, used the company’s recent shareholder meeting to show a teaser image of what Tesla is calling the Model Y. This will likely be available sometime around 2019 or 2020 and will be a smaller SUV type vehicle, set to build on the success of Tesla’s larger Model X, which competes with the likes of the Range Rover and BMW X5. According to Musk, production of the Model Y will use a new platform that builds on improvements made to existing models.
Model 3 rollout
Production of the Model 3, Tesla’s first affordable vehicle, is set to start next month and deliveries to customers who have pre-ordered should begin soon after. Tesla remains tight-lipped about how many pre-orders and deposits it has taken for the Model 3, but according to Musk, putting down a deposit now won’t get you a car until the end of 2018. With Model 3 production targeted for 5,000 vehicles per week, the timescale suggests there could be as many as half a million orders to fulfil.
Whether this rate of production is achievable is another question. Up to now, Tesla has been a low-volume manufacturer, with just 84,000 cars sold last year, whereas industry giants like Toyota and Volkswagen produce millions of vehicles a year.
However, the company seems to have learned its lesson from the Model X, which was almost a year and a half late coming to market. Musk claims that the business has learned from this and that the Model 3 will be simpler to make. This is partly due to a streamlining of customisation options, which will simplify the build process.
If you don’t want a long wait and are keen to try out a Tesla hiring one is a great way of seeing what these innovative electric cars have to offer.
Infrastructure changes
Of course, more Teslas on the road will mean that the company will have to expand its infrastructure. It has plans to expand its network of service centres by 30 percent over the next year, to cope with the extra demand. In addition, Musk says the centres will be supplemented by a fleet of mobile service trucks. Tesla also has plans to double its Supercharger network of high-speed charging points, so there will be more than 10,000 worldwide by the end of this year. A further expansion of between 50 and 100 percent is being planned for 2018 too.
Add in the company’s plans to break into the commercial sector, with a new truck set to be unveiled in the autumn, and it’s clear that Tesla has no intention of standing still and is continuing its mission to shake up the traditional motor industry.