The Strategist

Tesla reveals Semi and Roadster

11/17/2017 - 12:32

Tesla showed its own electric truck Semi and a new electric car model Roadster. According to the company's forecasts, their production can start as early as 2019 and 2020 respectively. However, some analysts doubt that Tesla will be able to launch mass production of new electric vehicles.

David van der Mark
David van der Mark
American manufacturer of electric vehicles Tesla introduced two new cars - Semi electric truck and electric sportscar Roadster. Semi will be unmanned: it can ride without a driver in a convoy with other trucks about 500 km on one charge. Its production will begin in 2019.

Roadster sportscar can appear on sale already in 2020. Its speed will reach 400 km/h, with gaining 100 km/h in 1.9 seconds. One charge will be enough to drive up to 1 thousand km. The first thousand sports cars will be sold at a price of $ 250 thousand, later it will cost about $ 200 thousand. Semi’s price is still unknown. 

Some analysts were skeptical about development of the Tesla electric truck. "Characteristics of the truck and the sports car would promote both cars to the top of these segments, assuming that they can be produced and sold within the framework of a sustainable business plan. As long as the last point eludes Tesla, it is difficult to view these cars as something more than a concept car," says Karl Brauer, an executive publisher at Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book.

Currently, Tesla Motors produces three models of passenger electric vehicles: hatchback Model S, sedan Model 3 and crossover Model X. To charge the electric cars, the company has created a network of Supercharger stations, and now there are almost 7,500 of them throughout the world.

In early November, Tesla reported for the third quarter: loss of the company was a record and amounted to $ 619 million. Yet, investors did not expect substantial revenues from the automaker, and profits, which the company reported in the third quarter of last year, came as a surprise. The record loss in the last quarter is due, inter alia, to the delay in the supply of the new electric vehicle Model 3: in the third quarter, the company managed to produce only 260 Model 3 instead of the planned 1,500. At the same time, the company's shares have risen by 46% since the beginning of the year, so now the cost of Tesla reaches $ 52.5 billion.

In the meantime, American politicians are going to strike the company. Republicans want to cancel the tax deduction for electric car owners. Its amount is impressive - from two to seven and a half thousand dollars. For example, "Tesla" Model 3 costs 35 thousand dollars, but maximum deduction lowers the price to already 27 thousand. The larger the discount, the higher the demand. The same Tesla has already received half a million applications for Model 3.

Such a decision can significantly reduce number of pre-orders. Once the news was published, the company's shares lost more than nine percent for the day from the first to the second of November. This is the strongest decline since May this year. With the approval of the Congress, the bill can enter into force as early as next year. But, according to analysts, this will have little impact on the development of Tesla.


< >

