Tesla is drawing plans to produce a smaller crossover SUV that will compete against the BMW X3, as well as a new sports car to succeed the discontinued Tesla Roadster, according to founder Elon Musk.
The new designs, planned for 2016, will bring to five the total number of models produced by the Silicon Valley electric car maker. They will join the current Model S sedan, the already announced Model X crossover, and a planned entry-level sedan that Musk says will launch in 2015 at a price tag of around $30,000.
Musk shared few details about the new models, but said they were needed to reach the economy of scale necessary to turn a profit from Tesla's new vehicle architecture. He tells Wired that the small crossover and the sports car are planned for launch at the same time -- after the unnamed entry-level sedan. "We'll do the X3 equivalent [crossover] and then a Roadster follow-up in parallel," says Musk.
Musk wouldn't say whether the small crossover will feature the innovative, dual-hinged gull-wing doors of the Model X.
More intriguing than the smaller crossover is the prospect of a new sports car from the electric vehicle start-up. Over 2,300 original Tesla Roadsters were sold over the course of its four-year model run, and sports car helped solidify Tesla's reputation as a bona fide automaker. Musk has said on a number of occasions that his goal for Tesla was to create a low-volume, high-end sports car for the world's elite in order to fund more models that would have larger public appeal.
The 2016 timing of the new sports car launch is key. At that point Tesla should have its model line-up fleshed out – perhaps turning a profit in the process – and can begin concentrating on a vehicle that will appeal directly to speed freaks.
Musk said that this new sports car won't be in the same vein as the Roadster, which was based off the Lotus Elise, and will have "supercar performance, but not supercar pricing."
While the biggest hurdle of bringing a sports car to market is keeping it in the black, the other issue is weight – a constant problem with the current crop of electric vehicles. The Performance version of the Model S, equipped with a slightly modified electric motor and 85 kWh battery pack, is able to run from zero to 60 mph in around 4 seconds, yet it weighs nearly 4,500 pounds. So creating something with Ferrari performance and an attainable price tag will require both a major innovation in lightweight components and a new breed of batteries to keep the tonnage in check.
For now, Musk's first Tesla priority is the 2015 new sedan, which will compete with the BMW 3 Series, Audi A4 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class. Based on Tesla's third-generation platform, Musk vowed the car will "look great and perform better than anything in its price range," adding that it will not be called the Model E. "I was joking when I said 'Model E,'" Musk told Wired, referring to a recent open forum he held on car culture site Jalopnik.
"In a lot of respects, it'll be a scaled down Model S," Musk told Wired. "Something like 20 to 25 percent smaller than the Model S." It will also include the same hatchback design as Tesla's current sedan.
