(PresidentialWire.com)- No doubt the biggest obstacle to getting people behind the wheel of a Tesla has been the price tag. But Elon Musk’s electric vehicle giant just took steps which will cement Tesla as the world’s leading brand in the competitive EV market.
Starting in 2023, Tesla will offer a small, affordable electric hatchback to better compete with the Volkswagen ID-3, Nissan Leaf and the Kia e-Niro.
Rather than the prohibitive $48,000+ price tag, this new Tesla hatchback will ring in at a starting price of about $25,000 — making it the least expensive Tesla model by a wide margin.
What makes the lower cost possible is the new battery technology the hatchback will employ. The battery, developed by Tesla, is said to reduce manufacturing costs by 50% over the current method while at the same time providing five times more energy.
Musk introduced the new battery technology last year during Tesla’s Battery Day. In announcing the new tech, Musk said that what troubled him most was that Tesla did not offer a “truly affordable car.” And in order to do that, a cheaper battery was necessary.
Production of the newly-designed battery packs will begin next year. And with the new battery technology, the lower-cost EV is expected to offer a highly competitive range that is on par with its more expensive models. The hatchback is to have a new lighter design – in large part due to the lighter battery – making it 10% lighter than conventional electric vehicles and helping boost the range by 16%.
It is still not clear how much range this lighter design will result in once released. Though Musk last year criticized cars with less than 250 miles of range as “unacceptably low.” So it is likely this new hatchback model will have a minimum range of 250 miles per charge.
Tesla has yet to reveal the model’s precise final form or the name – only calling it the upcoming “future product.” This new hatchback model follows on the news that Tesla was branching out into trucks – recently announcing the development of the Tesla Semi and Cybertruck.
