Attempting to duplicate the speed with which the company built its Gigafactory in Shanghai in 2019, Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) head of operations in China, Tom Zhu, said in an interview with Xinhua that the company expects to complete a new research and development center in Shanghai and \u201chave it up and running in the middle of this year.\u201d\t\t\t<\/p>\n
According to Zhu, Tesla\u2019s China-based manufacturing facilities \u201cwant to design, develop, and produce an original model in China. It is manufactured here and sold to the whole world.\u201d The R&D center represents the starting blocks to reach that goal.<\/p>\n
If Tesla is able to meet that aggressive schedule, it will bring the company one big step closer to delivering an all-electric, fully autonomous vehicle for $25,000 late next year or early in 2023. That schedule would also fulfill CEO Elon Musk\u2019s prediction at last September\u2019s Battery Day. The $25,000 price point has been a long-time goal for Musk and Tesla.<\/p>\n
Tesla expects to build the low-priced vehicle by cutting battery costs in half, primarily through a new battery cell design and improved battery manufacturing processes. It also expects to cut the cost of a battery by 56% by 2022, lowering the cost per kilowatt-hour (kWh) from just over $100 currently to around $50 per kWh.<\/p>\n
A 60-kWh battery currently costs about $9,000, and Tesla\u2019s Model 3 Sedan costs around $35,000. Halving the battery cost gets the company about halfway to its goal of a $25,000 car. The company is counting on manufacturing improvements to get it all the way to its price point. The car, likely a hatchback design, is expected to have a range of around 200 miles.<\/p>\n
Tesla began staffing up the R&D center last year and soon began accepting design submissions for the new vehicle on the company\u2019s official WeChat social media site.<\/p>\n
If (and it\u2019s a big if) Tesla can pull off designing and building this car for the $25,000 sticker price by 2022, the move could cement the company\u2019s place at the head of a long list of automakers now building electric vehicles. With a few exceptions, all-electric vehicles capable of carrying four passengers for 200 miles are priced at around $35,000 to $40,000.<\/p>\n
GM\u2019s 2021 Chevy Bolt has a starting manufacturer\u2019s suggested retail price of $36,500. Ford\u2019s 2021 Mustang Mach-E SUV starts at $42,895, and Kia\u2019s 2020 Niro begins at $39,090. Volkswagen\u2019s ID.4 has a starting price of $49,995, and BMW\u2019s i3 starts at $44,450. Only a couple of Chinese EVs built for the Chinese market sell for $25,000 or less.<\/p>\n
Tesla stock traded down about 2% in the early afternoon Tuesday, at $846.07 in a 52-week range of $70.10 to $900.40. The stock\u2019s consensus 12-month price target is $580.38.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n