Model E in 2015???

IMO the news that the Model E will be produced in 2015 is too good to be true. Maybe that the beta version of the Model E will be shown in 2015.

They probably mean the X

Confusion.
Model X will come (supposedly) early 2015.
Model E's design concept may come early 2015.

Also the cell pricing hasn't fallen enough to produce the Model E at the price points Tesla would like to sell it at, besides that, they simply don't have a supply of the cells to sell a mass market EV (Yet)

Sloppy reporting, or maybe we give the benefit of the doubt and say something was lost in translation.

Do a forum search on "giga factory" and you'll find plenty of discussion about the (Musk/Tesla confirmed) fact that there's not enough battery supply in the world to support a mass market launch. There's a good thread here (How-to-solve-the-giga-battery-factory-issue) which discusses various possibilities but Elon himself has talked about building the factory. That factory is a couple of years away at the very earliest.

The Nummi factory is still 90% empty space and it would take a considerable amount of time to equip it for mass market Gen III production; never mind the capital outlay that Tesla doesn't have the cash for yet. Let's not forget the thousands of skilled employees that Tesla would need to recruit to get that production running.

Elon also recently said (it was his European tour but I forget where) that Tesla is full focus on making sure Model S stays the best car on the market; Model X is sliding backwards and indicators are that general production of the X will be spring 2015. Musk has also said that they are still working on design iterations of the X so the chances of showing a Gen III prototype next year are almost certainly zero.

Summary: the batteries aren't available, there's no chance of getting the Gen III production line installed and the design team is already fully occupied.

Sorry, we should probably change the thread title.

AustinPowers said:

Well, they were certainly not talking about Model X, they were definitely talking about Gen III.
Perhaps it was a typo and meant to say 2018 instead of 2015.

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I am pretty sure the reveal will be Jan 2016 at Detroit Auto show if I recall correctly. Perhaps they meant that ....

There is just no excuse for getting the date wrong when reporting on future car models.

Where do I send my deposit?

I think the Model E will be shown early 2015.
The reason is that the Model X was shown first in february 2012 that was way before the production for the Model S started and it will take three years from presentation till mass production of the Model X, although they use the same base as the Mode S.

So if the Model E will be shown in Q1 2015, a mass production for 2018 would be reasonable.
Showing the Model E in 2017 would mean that mass production would start in 2019/20 Tesla would loose to much momentum that way.

Panasonic showed that it took them only 18 Months to add a new a production line for the Li-Ion Cells.
So 3-4 Years should be enough to build a new factory with new production lines.

TD1 said:

The reason is that the Model X was shown first in february 2012 that was way before the production for the Model S started and it will take three years from presentation till mass production of the Model X...

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Excellent point!

I read several days ago that the Gigafactory for Tesla will give it the needed foundation to build the Model E, but the factory will not be completed for 3 years.

I think tesla should release gen3 just as they have done with the modelS. I'm Australian and I'm still waiting for the S to arrive here. I would hate to see the gen3 delayed because tesla want to release it everywhere at the same time. If they can supply model X and S' to the world surely they can also do gen3 to the USA.