Tesla did not announce details about its forthcoming entry-level EV during its 2023 Investor Day event and instead focused on explaining how it will cut assembly costs by 50% in the future.
The four-hour presentation covered a plethora of topics but one of the highlights was the carmaker’s commitment to dramatically cutting production costs. Indeed, Tesla chief engineer Lars Moravy said the company will be able to build its next-generation vehicles for half the cost of the Model 3 and Model Y. As such, Tesla will be capable of building an EV for around $20,000.
Read: Everything We Think We Know About The $25k Tesla Model 2
During the presentation, Moravy described how traditionally, a vehicle’s body-in-white is constructed from hundreds of stamped panels that are welded together with robots. Tesla will do things differently in the future.
“The traditional way of making a vehicle is this, you stamp it, you do build a body-in-white, you paint it and you do final assembly,” Moravy explained. “And what’s interesting is these shops are dictated by the organizational structures that exist and they’re dictated by the boundaries that exist in the factories that are laid out.”
Tesla’s solution is dubbed the ‘Unboxed Process.’ It consists of large single-body casting and the 4680 structural battery packs that are all brought together in a far more streamlined process. Even the seats are raised up into position alongside the floor while mounted directly to the battery pack. This way of building a car won’t just slash costs, Tesla explains, but can also reduce a manufacturing footprint by approximately 40%.
“The desire for people to own a Tesla is extremely high. The limiting factor is their ability to pay for a Tesla,” Elon Musk noted.
While the company did tease a “next-generation” vehicle on multiple occasions throughout the presentation, it did not reveal any details about it. It is currently referred to as the Model 2 and will apparently be 30% lighter, and have a 25% smaller battery pack than the Model 3.
Elon Musk also failed to comment on the company’s plans for updated versions of both the Model Y and Model 3.
