According to a news report by Bloomberg, on Sunday, March 03, Tesla Inc.’s Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk stated that the company would be unveiling its new crossover SUV, the Model Y, in less than 2 weeks on March 14.
However, this announcement comes amid concerns about the company closing stores, laying off employees and demand for its cars as the US tax credits that pushed up income now fade away. With these issues at the forefront, investors are concerned whether the electric car maker’s growth is going to be impacted this year.
Tesla’s product launches are typically highly orchestrated events with a lot of media coverage, with crowds of customers who come in ready to put down on-the-spot deposits on the new cars. This is exactly how the Model 3 was launched in March of 2016.
And with consumer tastes changing from sedans to SUVs and crossovers, the Model Y is the perfect new offering from Tesla’s pipeline.
During the quarter four earnings calls that was held in January this year, Musk had announced that the company had finished the engineering as well as design of the new Model Y. He also stated 75% of the Model Y was common with the Model 3.
Speculation is that the Model Y will be produced at Tesla’s Gigafactory, which is located near Reno, Nevada. This is also the factory where the company’s powertrains and batteries are manufactured.
After the announcement was made, Musk sent out tweets that gave a few more details about the Model Y – teasers, so to say. He said that the new SUV crossover would have normal doors as opposed to the Falcon Wing doors that outfitted the Model X. He also posted that the Model Y would be about 10% more expensive than the Model 3 since it was a larger vehicle and would have less range than the sedan. Currently, the company’s pricing is based on the battery range.
Musk stated that more details about the new car would be available at the event, where the company would offer customers test rides. This might mean that the company also had a few prototypes ready for the show.
This announcement follows an earlier announcement that the company was now selling a $35,000-dollar version of the Model 3. This has been a long-awaited target for the company, which has finally been achieved.
The Verge states that the company has released only one teaser image of the Model Y, which is a black-and-white silhouette. However, the company has been talking about releasing this SUV for many years now. In fact, in 2015, Musk had posted a tweet about the crossover, revealing its name before deleting the post.
Musk also kept going back and forth about whether the new car would have the same technology as the Model 3. Finally, he announced that the SUV would, indeed, share the technology so that the Model Y could be launched in the markets on time. Tesla signed off on the final design of the SUV crossover late in 2018.
On Sunday, Musk also tweeted that the Supercharger’s third version would be revealed this week. The Supercharger is Tesla’s electric car charging station, and the new version is expected to go live on Wednesday, March 06 at 8pm PT. However, the location of the new Supercharger has not been revealed.
According to Musk’s earlier tweets, the new version of the Supercharger will charge Tesla cars at a rate of 350kW or even higher. This will keep the company competitive in the market.
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