Tesla’s Model S and Model X are now established
players on the market. Production of the Model 3 is in full swing. And the new
Roadster is on its way. So what’s next for Elon Musk and company? The Model Y, that’s what. At
least according to InsideEVs, which reports that Musk confirmed the new
electric crossover during Tesla’s most recent quarterly financial-performance
conference call.
Slated to slot in below the Model X, the Model Y is
expected to borrow much from the Model 3, but adopt a taller form of the
compact crossovers that have become so popular in the marketplace. That’d make
it more of a direct competitor (at least in terms of size) to the Mercedes EQC
and Jaguar I-Pace, both of which are classified as compacts, where the Model X
and the new Audi E-Tron are mid-sized.
Word has it that Tesla could reveal the new Model Y
next March and begin production in early 2020. Pricing ought to start at around
$45k, significantly undercutting the Model X but coming in a bit higher than
the Model 3. That’d also make it significantly less expensive than the $70k Jag
and likely the Benz, for which pricing has yet to be announced (but is sure to
come in at the higher end of the spectrum).
Without even taking the Roadster, Semi, and
anticipated pickup into account, that’d give Tesla a four-model lineup – which,
as InsideEV aptly points out, would be identified by the designations S-3-X-Y.
