Elon Musk has clarified that Tesla Gigafactory plans to build two new and different electric car models in Berlin and Shanghai as the automaker plans to build a cheaper electric car.
Tesla’s short- and medium-term production roadmaps are somewhat clear until recently.
AutoTomeker plans to launch Cybertruck, Tesla Semi and Roadster in the next two years.
After that, things become deadly.
Recently, Tesla has talked about the design and production of new vehicles in Germany and China.
Initially, CEO Elon Musk talked about tapping on local engineering and design talent in those markets, but then he made it clear that Tesla plans to build teams that will create new models to be produced in those markets.
On top of that, Tesla announced last week that it would build 25,000 electric cars.
Now in a new series of tweets, the CEO of Tesla has confirmed that 25,000 electric cars will not be the cheapest Tesla Model 3 and that the automaker is actually planning two different new vehicle programs in Shanghai and Berlin:
Tesla also plans to build a design center in Berlin, and Musk has previously talked to Tesla about the possibility of designing a small electric hatchback in Germany.
Kasturi was never clear on the timeline for new electric cars designed in China and Germany, but he said last week that Tesla’s new batteries could fetch 25 25,000 cheaper over the next three years.
Take the electric
I think we’re seeing a slight shift in strategy from Tesla here.
Tesla is currently building vehicles designed to pass worldwide regulations that require only minimal modification.
With the radical design of the cybertruck, Elon admits that Tesla is just trying to pass North American regulations and to launch pickup trucks in Europe and other markets, they will have to create new designs with a smaller form factor.
We will now be seeing similar strategies in China and Germany for that new vehicle program.
Tesla will not only be able to design a new vehicle to suit local demand, but also adapt to local regulations, which will help achieve lower prices.
To be clear, I’m not saying that Tesla will lower their safety standards to fit the minimum required in different markets. It doesn’t happen to me.
But there are a lot of automotive regulations that do not affect safety that vary greatly per market and it is very difficult to build vehicles that can be delivered everywhere.
Needless to say, Tesla will not export those cars with some modifications, as they do with cars manufactured in Fremont, but I think it could be several years after the start of production.
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