Elon Musk: Tesla could produce a $25,000 car in around 3 years

Elon Musk announced the company plans to reduce prices for its electric vehicles to 25 thousand US dollars during the Battery Day event held on September 22, Report says, citing Kommersant.

Tesla is working on new battery technology that CEO Elon Musk says will enable the company within the next three years to make sleeker, more affordable cars that can travel long distances on a single charge dramatically.
Tesla's shares shed more than six percent in extended trading after Musk's presentation. That deepened a downturn that began during Tuesday's regular trading session as investors started to brace for a potential letdown. Musk raised those worries with a series of tweets Monday warning that Tesla's new battery technology might not be ready for high-volume production until 2022.

Musk reiterated that timetable during Tuesday's showcase and then added it might take up to three years before the battery technology translates into a new Tesla model selling for 25,000 US dollars. That would be a dramatic markdown from Tesla's cheapest car now, the Model 3, a sedan that starts at 35,000 US dollars but usually ends up costing buyers more than 40,000 US dollars.

"We don't have a truly affordable car, and that is something we want in the future," Musk said during an event shaped by the restrictions imposed by a pandemic that requires people to keep their distance.

Besides lowering the price, Musk promised the new battery technology would help Tesla reduce its vehicles' size by about 10 percent and extend their range by 56 percent. That projection implies the Tesla cars using the new batteries will travel 500 miles (800 kilometers) or more on a single charge, surpassing the distance many gas-combustion cars can traverse before needing to refuel.

Musk took the stage before a mostly online audience. However, a small group of shareholders won a lottery for the right to sit in Tesla vehicles parked in a lot near the company's Fremont, California, factory located about 40 miles (64 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco.

"It is a little hard to read the room with everyone in cars," Musk joked as he began his presentation during an early phase of the event that was devoted to Tesla's annual meeting of shareholders.
"What happens when companies get bigger is things tend to slow down. We are going to speed up," Musk said Tuesday.