Everyone wants a cheaper Tesla, according to unscientific poll

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It is fairly common, when the subject of Tesla is brought up, to hear people say “I’d love to buy one if only it wasn’t so expensive.” They really mean it, according to a recent poll.

It seems like Tesla Motors can do no wrong these days. The one consistent knock on the Palo Alto electric automaker is that it only sells vehicles that the wealthy can afford, as its Model S starts around $70,000 and the soon-to-arrive Model X will be slightly more expensive. The company plans to address that problem by releasing a far more accessible long-range EV in 2017, and early indications are that quite a few people will want it.

Inside EVs reports that a recent poll conducted by EV World asked respondents if they would buy a Tesla electric vehicle if the price was $35,000 or less. The number that responded in the affirmative: 5,815 out of 5,995 for an absurd total of 97%.

There are of course two obvious explanations for this near-unanimous percentage of enthusiastic potential Tesla customers. First, it was a self-proclaimed ‘unscientific’ poll conducted on a website called EV World. The readers of such a website are very likely to be biased in favor of electric vehicles in general, and anyone familiar with electric vehicles knows that Tesla makes the very best. Why wouldn’t these readers want an affordable Tesla?

The other reason for the overwhelmingly positive results of this reader poll is that Tesla makes such an outstanding car and has developed such a positive reputation that it has become arguably the hottest commodity in the automotive industry. By the time the Generation III car is released to the general public following the sure-to-amaze Model X, the company will likely only have enhanced its reputation, not to mention its Supercharger network.

As of now, the affordable Tesla remains nameless but is still slated for a 2017 launch and is expected to start at $35,000 and exceed 200 miles of range on a charge. This informal poll may not be truly representative of what to expect when the vehicle hits the market, but the response it receives will be eagerly anticipated and could go a long way toward determining the fortunes of Tesla and the EV industry as a whole entering the next decade.

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