Tesla ’s all-electric Roadster isn’t exactly cheap at over $100,000, but the California-based company is hopeful that it can reduce the cost of entry into its electric cars as it rolls out more and more models. Next in the pipeline for Tesla is the Model S luxury sedan – which will retail for somewhere in the neighborhood of $60,000 – and now comes word that an even cheaper family car, dubbed the Bluestar, will follow soon after.
JB Straubel, Tesla’s chief technology officer, revealed on Wednesday that a budget family car has been in the works for a few years now. Called the Bluestar, Tesla is hopeful that it can get the all-electric people hauler to market with a retail price between $20,000 and $30,000.
In order to hit this price point, Tesla is currently exploring opportunity with other OEM manufacturers. “It could use the same or similar architecture, and we may partner with an existing OEM to leverage their scale,” Straubel told Green Tech. “(But) lower cost is the target.” With large companies like General Motors and Chrysler ramping up their electric car plans, Tesla could even have a few options to choose from.
Technology used in the company’s Model S program would likely serve as the basis for the Bluestar, and lessons learned from the Model S program would also be crucial to Tesla’s model expansion plans. In the next few years, Tesla plans to rollout a minivan, coupe and ever a small pickup model – all scheduled to be run exclusively on battery power.
Once Tesla’s new range is on the market, the electric car maker plans to sell hundreds of thousands of vehicles per year. Although that figure seems a bit lofty for a company that is still building cars by hand, Tesla plans to sell its Bluestar – and possibly other models – in the U.S. and China, which could prove to be a large enough market to move sales well into the six-digit range.
