During a visit to the Berlin gigafactory, Elon Musk announced that the upcoming affordable Tesla electric car with a price of around CZK 600,000 will be created here. At the same time, competitor Volkswagen is preparing a similarly expensive electric car. Who will succeed in the end?
Although Tesla currently sells four models (the Cybetruck electric pickup will soon reach its first overseas customers), the vast majority of the numbers are due to a pair of more affordable 3 models and Y. In the first nine months of this year, the American automaker delivered these to customers 1,278,169 carswhereas Tesla S and X together they procured only less than 46 thousand specimens. The brand belonging to Elon Musk’s empire crushes the competition by combining very interesting prices with the densest network of its own charging stations in the world and the ability to charge over 200 kW.
It is currently competing with a Chinese automaker for the position of the largest electric car manufacturer DWELLING, while in order to maintain their position not only against the predatory Chinese, the Americans plan to expand the portfolio downwards, among other things. The planned entry-level model, which will compete with, for example, the upcoming Volkswagen ID.2, should cost around 25 thousand euros, roughly 610,000 crowns. It will probably be a small hatchback or a crossover, which Tesla is currently working on developing.
At least for Europe, it will be created in a gigafactory nearby Berlin. After all, Musk himself confirmed this location during his visit to Germany. Another potential candidate for production is Mexico, where the factory is still in its infancy. In the coming weeks, Tesla should only receive a building permit.
The American automaker is able to maintain a relatively very low price, comparable to internal combustion cars, with its innovative production process. Tesla uses large body parts that make development and production cheaper and faster. He is also planning to improve this system in the future. Thanks to huge presses with a pressing pressure of up to 9000 tons would the brand be able to produce bodies almost in one, at most two pieces, against the current several hundred individual parts that have to be joined together.
By doing so, Tesla could afford to deploy low selling prices without hurting margins. In addition, the development of the car would take significantly less time. If it currently takes 36 to 48 months, the American automaker could do it in half the time.
