Having just launched their mid-sized Model S sedan, Tesla have now announced plans for a smaller, more compact electric vehicle, which will compete against the German establishment.
Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla’s chief designer, announced that the compact sedan will be the Silicon Valley-based manufacturer’s entry-level car, designed to allow a more affordable entry point into the Tesla brand, as well as boost volume sales. “The third model will continue to drive down the price point as fast as possible”, said von Holzhausen, who indicated a price tag potentially in the region of US$30 000 (the Model S current starts at US$57 400).
Planned for introduction in 2015, the smaller electric sedan will have a more daring design than the current Model S, with von Holzhausen saying, “We will become more experimental as we develop as a brand, our cars need to have some personality.”
von Holzhausen, 44 years old from Connecticut and former designer at Mazda, also hinted at the flexibility of Tesla’s platform saying, “There will be a time and place for us to develop something around a pick-up. That’s a market for which the torque of an electric motor would be ideally suited.”
While the sub-Model S sedan is reportedly set for a 2015 debut, it remains to be seen if or when Tesla will branch out into the pickup segment.
