NEWS
Model E to challenge 3 Series' price
Tesla's smaller all-electric sedan to be "realistically" priced when it arrives in late 2016UK publication Autocar is reporting that US electric car-maker Tesla's smaller 3 Series rival will be priced to challenge German prestige marques head on.
Company vice-president, and former Aston Martin engineering head, Chris Porritt, said the upcoming Model E will be "realistically" priced against competitors including the Audi A4, BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class, which in the US sell from around $32,750 in base form.
The majority of cost savings, estimated at up to 30 per cent, are expected to come from cheaper battery packs. Tesla's new $5 billion Gigafactory, which when built will have the capacity to build enough batteries for 500,000 vehicles annually, will eschew many of the overheads that now price the Model S at a significant premium against its same-sized rivals ($69,900 USD versus $50,425 for a similarly specified BMW 5 Series).
The use of more "appropriate materials" in construction of the Model E will further reduce cost, the model unlikely to share the all-aluminium platform of the current Model S, and upcoming Model X SUV (pictured).
"I expect there will be very little carry-over [from the Model S]," Porritt told Autocar. "We've got to be cost-effective. We can't use aluminium for all the [small car's] components."
Tesla currently builds 600 examples of the Model S each week at its Freemont plant. That figure is expected to rise significantly following the introduction of the Model X next year (2015) and Model E in 2016.
The Model S is currently available in Australia, with a starting price of $96,208 (plus on-road costs).
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If the price does not contain the notation that it is "Drive Away", the price may not include additional costs, such as stamp duty and other government charges.
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