Even though Tesla clearly has
Even though Tesla clearly has plans for smaller, less expensive models, I actually do not see Tesla ever building a $10K-$16K car in the foreseeable future. We know that Tesla will be building certainly at least one $25K compact EV model for the Asian and European market. And I actually suspect there may be two smaller Tesla models built in the next 5 years. One as a Chinese design, and a more upmarket sub-$25K, compact car for Europe and eventually the U.S. But even though there is admittedly a huge potential market for a tiny and super cheap EVs, India and China are already building them. In fact China's
$6,000 Wuling Hongguang Mini EV has already been outselling Teslas in China. But Tesla would not throw away their reputation of building high tech, near-luxury, performance EVs to try and compete against minimalist, sub-compact, bare, economy cars. It is more probable that they would supply batteries, electronics, software, and EV drivetrain components to other automakers someday in the future.