Now the second richest man in the world, Elon Musk made a stop in Europe this week for Tesla's battery conference and the company CEO did not disappoint as always. Musk dropped hints of impressive additions to Tesla's catalog of products, and chief of them are a more powerful battery pack and possibly the cheapest Tesla EV.
Musk made a promise to his audience that Tesla vehicles will soon reach a maximum range of 435 miles per charge, and this upgrade will apply to all-electric vehicles - old, new, and those still in the pipeline. The picture painted by Tesla's boss is that all EVs built by his company will eventually cover nearly twice of their range today.
The executive's grand ambition is to hit 620 miles of range, which if possible, will be implemented on all Tesla EVs. Originally, the blueprint on this was exclusively designed for the Tesla Roadster but there is no stopping Musk from shooting for the moon.
CNET said Tesla will make the 450 miles of range a reality through its ongoing battery development project that is dubbed as Biscuit Tin. For this endeavor, the automaker is working with Panasonic, which has been Tesla's long-time partner.
Musk provided no timeline on when the increased range for Tesla EVs will be experienced but it should be safe to assume that it will be a wait of a few more years. It should be noted that advertising big and delivering a bit late is not out of character for the Tesla CEO as evidenced by the delayed arrivals of the company's hotly-anticipated products.
On this, the Roadster and the Cybertruck easily come to mind. These vehicles already piqued the interest of Tesla's most ardent and casual fans alike but when precisely they will be rolling out remains a mystery.
And as Musk teased on how far the Tesla EVs can go in the future, he likewise heightened the anticipation for a new car model, which the CEO said is most suitable in Europe. If this new electric car will see the light of the day, two things will be for sure - it will be the smallest and most affordable EV that the company will release.
It will be of the compact kind and the most popular bet is of the hatchback model. Electrek said the planned Tesla EV will be designed and manufactured in Europe, specifically in Gigafactory Berlin that is presently being constructed.
"In Europe, I think it would make sense to do I guess a compact car - perhaps a hatchback or something like that. Something that answers 'what do most people want?' in a given region," Musk was reported as saying.
If the Tesla hatchback will push ahead, it will likely wait until the Model Y is locally produced in Germany. As Musk has already made clear, his priority for Giga Berlin is to bring the Tesla mini-SUV to the old continent so the compact car will have to wait a bit.
