{"id":3749,"date":"2016-03-28T07:45:35","date_gmt":"2016-03-27T23:45:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/people.utm.my\/haslinasarkan\/?p=3749"},"modified":"2016-03-28T07:45:35","modified_gmt":"2016-03-27T23:45:35","slug":"tesla-to-pitch-its-new-electric-car-at-middle-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/haslinasarkan\/tesla-to-pitch-its-new-electric-car-at-middle-market\/","title":{"rendered":"Tesla to pitch its new electric car at middle market"},"content":{"rendered":"

The original article can be obtained\u00a0here.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Tesla Motors Inc is set to unveil the Model 3, its long-anticipated pitch to middle-class drivers and a key component in founder Elon Musk\u2019s vision to mainstream the electric car. Tesla, until now a purveyor of luxurious all-electric cars with equally luxurious price-tags, plans to sell the Model 3 for us$35,000, half the base price of the flagship Model S.<\/p>\n

The Model 3 is scheduled to be unveiled at Tesla\u2019s Design Studio in Hawthorne, California, on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Now only putting out 50,000 cars a year, Tesla plans to use the Model 3 to turn itself into a mainstream automaker selling 500,000 electrics annually by 2020.<\/p>\n

Analysts said the new car is critical to Tesla at a time when cheap gasoline is challenging all \u201cgreen\u201d cars, and as rival General Motors Co stakes its claim on the electric vehicle middle market with its new Chevrolet Bolt.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Model 3 is really the measure if Tesla is going to make it long-term as a car company,\u201d said Jessica Caldwell, an analyst at the auto industry Web site Edmunds.com. \u201cIf they want to bring the EV to the mass market they need the Model 3 to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Model 3 would be about 20 percent shorter than the S, placing it in the same segment as the Audi A4. It would also have four-wheel drive, according to people close to the matter.<\/p>\n

The car is expected to be able to travel up to 500km without being recharged, depending on the battery system chosen, and would include modern safety systems, such as autopilot.<\/p>\n

The first Model 3s are to be delivered by the end of next year in the US, and 2018 in Europe. Consumers can pre-order the vehicles starting on Thursday for a deposit of US$1,000.<\/p>\n

Tesla faces direct competition from the soon to be released 200km range Chevrolet Bolt, which would have a one-year head start on the Model 3 in getting the attention of consumers looking for a moderately priced electric-vehicle.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a cachet and a brand image at Tesla,\u201d Chevrolet electrification division product marketing manager Darin Gesse said, adding \u201cwe also know Chevrolet has a brand image. We have shown that our customers have been the most happy in the country. Our battery is solid. We have confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cheap gasoline is also a challenge, as more consumers opt for SUVs and other large vehicles.<\/p>\n

Last month, only about three percent of the 1.3 million cars sold in the US were \u201cgreen\u201d cars, according to data from hybridcars.com.<\/p>\n

\u201cGas prices are still down,\u201d Caldwell said. \u201cI think you will get the Tesla fans, but you may not have a massive mainstream market.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The original article can be obtained\u00a0here.   Tesla Motors Inc is set to unveil the Model 3, its long-anticipated pitch to middle-class drivers and a key component in founder Elon Musk\u2019s vision to mainstream the electric car. Tesla, until now a purveyor of luxurious all-electric cars with equally luxurious price-tags, plans to sell the Model […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6477,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/haslinasarkan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/haslinasarkan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/haslinasarkan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/haslinasarkan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6477"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/haslinasarkan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/haslinasarkan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3749\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/haslinasarkan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/haslinasarkan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/haslinasarkan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}