Tesla ended February on a busy note by unveiling its long-awaited Model 3 with a base price of $35,000. And the electric carmaker doesn’t appear to plan on sitting still in March.
On Sunday, Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk tweeted that the company will show off its next vehicle, the Model Y SUV, at an event March 14 at the L.A. Design Studio in Los Angeles. Tesla first teased the Model Y two years ago.
Model Y unveil event on March 14 at LA Design Studio
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 3, 2019
Musk gave scant details about the Model Y, aside from saying that it since it is an SUV, it will be about 10 percent bigger than — and cost about 10 percent more than — the Model 3 sedan. Musk also said that the Model Y’s battery range will be “slightly less” than that of the Model 3.
On Thursday, Tesla announced it was cutting the base price of its Model 3 to $35,000 before including federal tax credits and gas savings that can drop the car’s sticker price to below $30,000. The new base model Model 3 comes with a fully charged battery range of 220 miles.
As part of its efforts to bring down the price of the Model 3, Tesla said it will close nearly all of its dealerships and move to a completely online ordering model for its vehicles.
When Tesla announced its fourth-quarter results in January, the company said that the Model Y will be built on the same platform as the Model 3 and share about 75 percent of that car’s components. The company estimates that this will make the cost of the Model Y production line in Fremont “substantially lower than the Model 3 line.”
Musk added that Tesla will give more details about the Model Y, as well as test rides of the vehicle, at the event next week.
