Tesla is likely to unveil a smaller electric vehicle to be designed at the Guangzhou Motor Show in China in November 2021, Chinese media reported.
The compact electric car, dubbed the ‘Model 2’ by Tesla viewers, was one of several revelations from Tesla CEO and co-founder Elon Musk during EV manufacturer’s Battery Day in 2020.
It will be the first locally designed electric car to be manufactured in Tesla’s China Design Center, and will be manufactured in the Shanghai factory.
According to a report by Chinese technology news website sina.com, the new vehicle will be a “hatchback version of the Model 3” and is expected to sell for about 160,000 yuan ($ A32,526 converted) and a driving force from somewhere between 350-450 km driving distance.
According to the report, Tesla has already begun the process of producing the “Model 2” for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which according to another report from the Tesmanian blog is produced in a second phase factory in the Shanghai factory .
The EIA apparently refers to a “new model project for early launch”, the production of which will take six months to test.
If the compact electric car enters the lucrative and huge Chinese market, it will not be a moment too early for Tesla.
While Tesla was a dominant force in the Chinese auto market, it was ranked second in Wuling’s small HongGuang Mini EV, which in December 2020 sold 33,000 units to the 23,000 of Model 3.
It is unlikely that Model 2 will be able to compete at the small 28,880 yuan ($ A5 870 $ converted) price point of the Wuling, but it will of course have the advantage over Tesla technology and software.
It is not clear whether the compact “Model 2” will eventually reach Australia, although it is taken into account that it has now been confirmed that Tesla is prepared to ship Model 3s built in Shanghai to the local market, but it is not outside the realm of possibility – although we expect to see the Model Y here first.
Bridie Schmidt is chief reporter for The Driven, a sister site of Renew Economy. She specializes in writing new technology and has been writing about electric vehicles for two years. She is very interested in the role that transportation without emissions plays in sustainability and is co-organizer of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum.