Tesla Finally Appears to Make Moves Toward Building Affordable EV Model
The long-rumored affordable, entry-level Tesla is almost here – maybe. Four years after the automaker first said it would build a cheaper EV, it appears things are in motion. Tesla reportedly alerted suppliers that it would start building a mass-market compact crossover in the middle of 2025, which would become one of the most affordable electric models on sale if it becomes a reality.
The $25,000 vehicle, named “Redwood,” will reportedly have a 10,000-unit weekly production volume and is expected to start rolling through the factory in mid-2025. Chinese company BYD recently overtook Tesla as the top EV company in the world, so this cheaper model could help the American automaker regain its top spot.
Last year, CEO Elon Musk hinted at two new products, aiming for combined sales of five million units annually. One of them is expected to be a robotaxi, which would join the affordable Redwood on a new Tesla architecture.
Tesla has not yet met its goals of delivering affordable EV models, though the Model 3 is one of the least expensive on sale today. The Cybertruck landed at a higher price than initially advertised, and it took several years to release, so the automaker’s track record with new product releases and pricing isn’t the best.
[Image: Shutterstock]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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The $25,000 vehicle
Chris misspelled $45,000.
Did anybody see the videos from the San Diego floods/ tesla driving through the water that was up to it's hood. ICE, drowned.
And I suppose that it would be an aluminum alloy, because you can't die-cast steel. Can you imagine the complexity of such a die? And you would need thousands of them operating at high temperatures creating ENORMOUS maintenance problems.
Would a die cast aluminum alloy body shell be strong enough to withstand a collision?
Elon Musk says a lot of bulls**t, and he studied materials physics at Stanford, so he is just a successful showman who grabbed a competitive advantage, which is now fading away.
Tesla is WAYYYY overvalued
I agree it's more prevalent in newer cars, especially with the vast array of sensors installed in bumpers and what not. But a truck with stainless steel skin - sure' its tough, but its not immune to damage and expensive to repair. And if they do use an aluminum alloy, same thing. I work in hi-tech manufacturing and understand the dynamic between the engineering approach a manufacturer would like to take to streamline and drive costs down vs the "compromises" needed to ensure durability and field repair needs. And I agree most car manufacturers are not not doing a great at this - they understand the dynamic, but once the car is sold it's no longer their problem (aside from warranty repairs: there is a reason car makers were using longer warranty periods as a competitive factor several years ago, and now with the type of vehicle those warranty periods are growing shorter again - it limits their financial liability). And we're quickly getting to the point where the tooling, tech, software, experience and components are specific to the vehicle brand or whatever form factor or components they chose, many networked in various configurations. Your local Joe Mechanic can't service these anymore, and you have to go back to a dealer or a "Brand X" certified mechanic which are both far more expensive yet have access to the training and materials they need at "cost." It's far less labor intensive to replace an entire bumper assembly than pull it apart to fix something wrong inside. People get angry at Apple for this stuff, but the car manufacturers are evolving to the same model.