As competition to build more affordable electric vehicles heats up, Tesla Inc. is set to launch a new model at its manufacturing facility near Berlin that will retail for €25,000 ($26,863). Reuters published this news. Elon Musk, the CEO, revealed the strategy to the workers during a visit to the Tesla factory in Gruenheide last week, according to Reuters on Monday, which cited an unidentified source. It claims that Musk did not specify when production would begin. Requests for comments from Tesla were not answered.
Tesla’s sales in the EV market
The new Tesla would significantly lower the price of its base model in Europe, where automakers are vying with one another to lower prices and open up EV ownership to a wider spectrum of consumers. The Model 3 is currently Tesla’s least costly vehicle in Germany, with a starting price of €42,990.
In an attempt to capture market share in Europe, where consumer purchasing is negatively impacted by inflation, Chinese manufacturers like BYD, Nio, and MG are vying with European mass-market automakers to build cheaper electric vehicles. Last month, reservations for a new Ñ-C3 that starts at €23,300 were opened by Stellantis NV’s Citroen brand. This car is aimed at competing with Renault’s Dacia Spring, which is priced in France at €20,800.
Germany is often a costly production site due to its high energy and payroll expenses. Furthermore, Tesla has encountered challenges at its Gruenheide facility, ranging from disagreements over its customary resistance to unions to environmental issues around its water usage. The plant is home to the company’s “giga-press technology,” which it claims would allow it to produce EVs more affordably and with fewer parts.
Musk first broached the idea of creating a less expensive electric vehicle in 2018 and reiterated the push in 2020. Similar to the company’s Cybertruck, there hasn’t been any clear progression from announcement to manufacturing.
