Tesla’s new hatchback will directly compete against the Volkswagen ID 3 and MG 4.
A more affordable addition to Tesla’s four-strong model line up has been in the works for some time, as the firm aims to lower the price of entry to its range of EVs. Now a new official teaser image of the car has been released at the 2023 Tesla Annual Shareholder Meeting in the US.
The car, which could be known as the Tesla Model 2 when it finally arrives, may even be part of a pair with a similar close technical relationship to that of the Model 3 and Model Y. At the shareholder event Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, stated that: “There are two new products that I think you’ll be very excited about. Both the design of the products and the manufacturing techniques are head and shoulders above anything else that is present in the industry”.
Musk was widely expected make an official announcement on the Tesla ‘Model 2’ at the Tesla Investor Day event in March 2023 but in the end viewers and attendees were given a series of insights into new Tesla technology that will eventually feature on a “next-generation model”. Now we have a teaser image showing the curving roofline of a car with similar design cues to those of the existing Model Y.
Musk explained that: “People always want to know what our next product is. We obviously need to have a proper dedicated product launch. I just want to emphasise that we are actually building a new product, we are actually designing a new product – we’re not sitting on our hands here.”
The new ‘baby Tesla’ has previously been teased in a social media video that hinted at the new car’s design with a series of sketches. We’ve also seen an image of its bare bodyshell, a potential hint that Tesla’s more efficient, more affordable small-car platform (which will incorporate learnings from the Model 3 and Y) will be a major part of the firm’s self-proclaimed ‘master plan’.
Previously, Musk has told shareholders that the next stage of his plan would be “fundamentally about scaling”. This is likely to involve battery supply and production. The 2023 Investor Day event revealed details of innovative new production techniques and plans for car batteries that contain no precious metals.
There is a clear focus within the company on measures that reduce complexity and make it easier and cheaper for Tesla to build vehicles – this could extend to a fully structural battery pack built-in to the framework of the car and would also tally with the desire for a more affordable, higher volume model. Musk said at the 2023 Shareholder Meeting that “[My] guess is that we’ll make in excess of five million units a year of these two products combined,” So a more affordable, shorter range EV to sell in big numbers certainly seems to be on the adgenda.
Tesla ended 2022 without delivering either its much-delayed Cybertruck or the new Roadster, although we’re promised Cybertruck deliveries will start in 2023 and the Roadster will arrive in 2024. Despite this, the company is already putting fresh focus on the development of a smaller, cheaper model that could play a bigger role in mass EV adoption.