Tesla expects to sell 500 000 electric cars a year by 2020
- Tesla unveiled a plan for a plant that will produce lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. The plant is expected to be completed by 2017 and will equip by 2020 nearly 500 000 of the brands vehicles per year. Tesla plans to manufacture 35 000 vehicles in 2014 (against 25 000 in 2013) and 70 000 in 2015, 150 000 in 2016, 250 000 in 2017, 350 000 in 2018, 450 000 in 2019 and 500 000 in 2020.
- However, no announcement was made on Tesla's ability to produce these 500 000 vehicles by 2020 and on which markets the vehicles will be sold. If it indeed wants to mass produce its electric models several questions can be raised.
- Does Tesla have the capacity to produce 500 000 vehicles? Today 30 000 vehicles rolled out of the Fremont plant (California) and when the plant used to belong to GM / Toyota it could produce up to 400 000 gas vehicles. Naturally, this does not mean that Tesla is able to produce as many electric vehicles. Another solution that would be available would be to build or buy a new plant in North America or in Europe, or even using CKD assembly (like Tesla is currently doing in the Netherlands) or a JV in China if sale volumes follow.
- What models will achieve this goal? Tesla currently offers a sedan from segment F (Model S), but the carmaker expects to start the production late 2014 of an SUV from segment D (Model X) and intends to launch by the end of 2016 a sedan from segment D, which will cost less than 40 000 dollars.
- With this objective of 500 000 vehicles produced annually by 2020, Tesla will become the leading manufacturer of electric vehicles. To recap, the Renault-Nissan group, the largest producer of electric vehicles, produced since 2010 more than 100 000 units and will have the capacity to produce 500 000 vehicles per year by 2015.
