Tesla moves for cheaper EVs over fierce competition from Chinese brands

Globally acclaimed electric vehicle leader Tesla has revealed some details about its next models and platform for producing cheaper products.

This is coming as the firm faces fierce competition from Volkswagen, Renault, MG and various other Chinese manufacturers that have confirmed plans to launch cheap and affordable EVs.

In a presentation termed Masterplan 3, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and other managers of the brand gave updates on a wide array of developments for the EV firm, ranging from advances in electric motor technology to new car construction processes that would speed up production.

Musk spoke in Texas before Tesla stakeholders, fans and car owners.

The automaker managers confirmed Tesla would cut assembly costs by half in future generations of cars, Reuters reports.

But Chief Executive Elon Musk did not unveil when it would debut a much-awaited affordable electric vehicle.

Tesla estimates that its new platform will reduce construction cost per vehicle by around $1000 (£830), which should translate into a tangibly lower price point for the consumer.

Autocar also reports that fundamentally, Tesla will look to minimise the amount of work needed at each stage of the process. For example, the seats will be mounted directly to the underfloor battery pack, with the entire unit then raised up into a bodyshell that has been painted in sections to avoid the need for door removal and reinstallation.
The new process is essentially centred on “only doing things that are necessary”.

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Musk outlined his vision for a cleaner global economy in the post-ICE age, saying, “There is a clear path to a fully sustainable Earth, with abundance,” adding that this could be achieved without “austerity” and predicting that “an electrified economy will require less mining than the current economy”.

The all-out switch to electric road vehicles would cut fossil fuel usage by 21%, Tesla said.

Furthermore, Musk said, “All cars will go fully electric and autonomous. Driving a non-autonomous gasoline car is going to be an allegory for riding a horse and using a flip phone.”

According to Autocar, before now, details of the next Tesla car have been kept largely under wraps, with engineering boss Lars Moravy only confirming that “it would not be a Model Y” that benefits from the outlined production advances, as was depicted in an illustration that showed the innovations.

Tesla design boss Franz von Holzhausen said other details of the firm’s next car would come “at a later date”. It’s likely to be the first Tesla produced at a new factory in Monterrey, Mexico.

Moravy also said the Model 3 “landed us in production hell” with various delays and obstacles throughout the construction process hampering the crucial saloon’s roll-out.

But now new methods of vehicle production – first explored during development of the angular, unpainted Cybertruck – are touted as allowing a 40% reduction in factory footprint, cost savings of up to 50% and a drastic reduction in risk of delays at each stage of the production line.

Tesla’s chief financial officer, Zach Kirkhorn, and others underscored their dedication to cutting production costs.

Kirkhorn estimated Tesla must invest six times more than it has to date to hit its long-term target of increasing output to 20 million vehicles annually by 2030, a 10-fold increase from current capacity. The bill could be $175bn, he said.