TRT World – World in Focus: Future of Electric Cars Accelerates with Tesla
Will Tesla Model 3 hit road?
After months of rumours and tweets about its secret plans…Tesla Motors has finally revealed its Model 3 sedan electric car. Enthusiasts camped out overnight, queueing outside Tesla stores across California to put down deposits on the car in scenes reminiscent of the launch of Apple products. Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk says it’s a big environmental step forward.
Tesla’s zero emission cars
After the Volkswagen emission scandal hit the auto world last summer, petrol car producers accelerated their technologies to make zero emission vehicles. But it’s not just the scandal that has people worried. The global concentration of carbon dioxide has reached the highest point in recorded history. MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says air pollution caused by transportation emission kills 53,000 people a year.
Tesla’s master plan
Musk says Tesla’s “Master Plan” is to build a sports car. The company then plans to use the revenue from those vehicles to build an affordable car. But the Model S and Model X sales together were 7 percent short of the company’s earlier forecast first quarter sales of 16,000 vehicles. Tesla could not reach its goals with previous models because they produced low volume high price cars- the Model S and Model X had starting prices of $100,000. Tesla seems to have changed its marketing strategy with the Model 3, which has a high volume low price, with a starting price of $35,000. The car has four-door and no grille. And a roof that is a panoramic pane of glass from front to back. The Model 3 accelerates from zero to 100 kilometres an hour in six seconds, other models go faster. They travel at least 340 km on a single charge. They will support “supercharging” as standard, allowing drivers to travel 130 kilometres on just a 2- minute charge. The vehicle will go into production in 2017
Tesla stocks boomed
The Model 3 is critical to the Silicon Valley automaker’s growth plans and to sustaining its lofty stock price. Tesla has previously revealed three other electric cars, but the company has still fallen short of its goals. The unveiling of the Model 3 has helped Tesla shares jump 5.1 percent to 249.74 dollars as customers pre-ordered 276,000 cars in four days. Tesla plans to reach its goal of selling 500,000 cars a year by 2020. Meanwhile, the company is building its Gigafactory, battery manufacturing facility, which will be powered by renewable energy. Tesla Motors aim to sell more of its Model 3 than other electric cars due to be launched such as the Chevrolet Bolt EV and Nissan Leaf. It has ambitious plans in what is likely to become a big and ever growing market over the next few years
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