I wonder if it wont have the performance nor the range of the S. Seems way to cheap to me as well.
Whats pricing on the Model X going to be?
More expensive than the S and ugly as sin.
The problem with electric cars seems to be that you need a battery of a certain size for range and that battery is a fixed price plus once you have a motor you're not saving much money by neutering performance versus going all out. Maybe they'll be relying on people paying $5,000 - $10,000 to upgrade to a more powerful motor like they do now.
40k in the current Gen. I highly doubt the battery pack in the 2017 is going to be anywhere near 40k.... Maybe 20k.
Plus smaller car = less material cost and less power needed to accomplish the same as the model S in mpg/power.
They're relying on economies of scale to hit that price target and maybe they can do it with pre-orders or just with the insane amount of onhand cash they have. After all, if they can offer the car for 35k and they can keep up with demand it will without a doubt be a sales success. At 60k the Model S makes a somewhat compelling case for itself over a say 30k car if someone is going to keep it and drives a lot. At 35k for a car you suddenly don't need to put gas in, that's a game changer and Tesla is now considered a premium brand.
As for the smaller car bit, the car is only going to be 20% smaller. That's not much, especially when you consider that most of the car's weight is in it's motor and batteries. At a certain point you need a larger battery just to move around your battery. I don't think a smaller car gives you more efficiency like it does in a gas car because unlike a gas car you can only get the car so light.
But here's the great thing: Elon's ego will require him to deliver, even if the car ends up being $39,999. I wouldn't bet against him.
My biggest concern with Tesla right now is design. They've skirted the need to update their product offering so far but the Model S is going to require a refresh relatively soon and it doesn't look like Tesla knows a different design than the S since the the X and the new car all look the same.
I guess it's a bit ironic but my biggest concern with a company that's trying to do the impossible isn't batteries or technology but whether or not they can come out with a follow up design that's still a hit.
