► Tesla working on two EVs
► One could be rumoured Model 2
► Should use next-generation platform
At Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting yesterday, CEO Elon Musk revealed the company isn’t working one but two new electric vehicles. Musk clarified that both EVs had yet to be unveiled to the public, therefore ruling out the forthcoming Tesla Cybertruck and (very delayed) Roadster. Musk also said the cars are being built not designed – suggesting they’re further on in the production process than you’d expect.
One of the cars could be the previously-rumoured Model 2, and the other could be a refreshed version of the Model 3, codenamed ‘Highland.’
The Model 2?
The Model 2 could be what Tesla has previously referred to as ‘the next generation vehicle.’ The brand has already teased the new hatchback model in a social media post, and it’s likely to slot well below the £42,000 Model 3 – making it the brand’s cheapest car. Looks-wise, expect something similar to the Model 3, but in a more squat, condensed form.
A sub-£20,000 price tag is rumoured, and its mainly down to the more efficient way it’ll be produced.
Tesla’s vice president of vehicle engineering, Lars Moravy, touched on the new production process in Tesla’s last call:
‘When you have a car that’s about five metres long, you have people working around it like we did in Model 3,’ said Moravy. ‘And we’ll change that to this process where we take different parts of the car, and we can do more at the same time like we did with the Model Y structural battery pack. We can get more people working on the car – or robots working on it – at the same time.’
Moravy said the new production solution was a two for one concept: As well as being faster, it’ll be cheaper too. It should help reduce costs by as much as 50% – making the brand’s widely rumoured £20,000 EV significantly more feasible.
‘For Cybertruck, we are now designing 85% of the controllers on the car,’ said Pete Bannon, director at Tesla on the same call. ‘For the next-gen platform, we’re going to finish the job and will be designing 100% of the controllers to give us full control of the design and the supply chain. Having full control the supply chain at the component level has been critical to Tesla over the last few years, as the supply constraints have hampered our ability to build cars.’
What else do we know?
Tesla has revealed its generation car will also use a new powertrain that’ll be cheaper to produce, more efficient and less reliant on rare earth metals. ‘Our next powertrain factory is 50% smaller than the [current one], even though it has the same capacity.’
Highland
The other car – and the one Musk may have teased at the event itself – could be the successor to the Model 3. Dubbed ‘Highland’ it’s rumoured to feature more refined styling and hopefully improved dynamics. Whether or not it’ll also run on Tesla’s next-generation platform remains to be seen.