Tesla founder Elon Musk. Image via Wikimedia Commons
Electric car manufacturer Tesla expects its latest generation of electric vehicle (EV), the Tesla 3, to challenge the BMW 3 Series range. The Tesla 3 is due out in 2017.
Auto Express’ website contains concept images and revealed the car’s name was actually not its intended name, the Tesla E. After Ford filed a lawsuit claiming copyright on the designation, Tesla’s founder Elon Musk had less than pleasant words about renaming the car: “I thought this is crazy, Ford’s trying to kill sex! So we’ll have to think of another name. The new model is going to be called Model 3, we’ll have three bars to represent it and it’ll be S III X!”
The car is yet to be officially revealed and the final model is expected to be shown off to EV enthusiasts in 2016 before its general release the following year.
In terms of how big the car will be, it is understood to be about 20pc smaller than Tesla’s latest model, the Model S, and will fall into the price bracket of lower-range luxury car at US$35,000 (€25,800). In comparison, the recently reviewed BMW i3 is retailing in Ireland for €35,000.
The lower cost of the 3 model is due to the new battery technology that the company is developing and will see the car’s range be about 321km, less than the bigger S model, Auto Express reported.
