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Friday, March 11, 2016

What's Next for Tesla After Model 3

Tesla is soon to unveil the Model 3. This is their affordable high-volume car and it completes their 2006 Secret Plan. So what's next for Tesla?

There's been a few hints, a lot of speculation, and even an April Fools' joke. The April Fools' joke is that Tesla is going to make an RV.

Jokes aside, what will Tesla make after the Model 3? Will it be a motorcycle, a truck, will they bring the Roadster back, will they make a vertical takeoff and landing airplane?


CNN Money quotes Elon Musk saying, “If you’re trying to replace the most gasoline miles driven, you have to look at what people are buying. That’s the best selling car in America. If people are voting that’s their car, then that’s the car we have to deliver.”

The best-selling vehicle in America is a truck. It's the Ford F-150. Musk told Automotive News, “I have this idea for a really advanced electric truck that has the performance of a sports car but actually more towing power and more carrying capacity than a gasoline or diesel truck of comparable size.”

Musk has dropped hints about a small crossover based on the Model 3's platform, much as the Model X was based on the Model S platform. In his now deleted tweet, Musk called this the Model Y. That would complete the set and give Tesla the Model S, ≡, X, and Y. Thereby making Tesla vehicles officially S≡XY.

There have also been hints that Model 3 platform could also be the basis for a new Roadster. With a dual motor, a carbon fiber body, and Maximum Plaid acceleration, Tesla could make a new tire destroying machine.

So what can we expect after Model 3? An electric motorcycle or an RV don't seem likely. An electric truck, a smaller crossover, and a new Roadster seem the most likely.

These seem like the right moves for the company. As mentioned above, trucks sell well in America. We'll see if Tesla can attract a new set of buyers with an offering there. The Model Y will be the affordable family hauler; Tesla's appeal to the soccer moms. And the new Roadster will be a nice nod to their beginnings and give the high end buyers a reason to part with large sums of money to get fast 0 to 60 times and autopilot features.

After these, maybe Tesla really should consider that RV. There's a lot of room for solar panels on top of a Winnebago :-)

It will likely be 2020 or later before we even see alphas of any of these, I wonder which one will be first, or if there are more surprises in store for us.

Live electric!

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