Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) intends to build a €25,000 (£21,700/$26,800) electric vehicle at its manufacturing plant near Berlin, Germany, according to inside sources quoted by Reuters.
If confirmed, it would represent a significant step down in pricing, not just for Tesla but the EV industry as a whole.
Tesla’s flagship Model S goes for upwards of £113,000 in the UK, while the ‘budget’ Model 3 has a starting price above £40,000.
Sources said that Tesla boss Elon Musk announced the as-yet unconfirmed €25,000 vehicle in a visit to the Gruenheide plant last Friday, where he also announced a 4% wage hike for all staff from this month.
The German plant currently produces Europe’s best-selling EV, the Tesla Model Y.
In July, Tesla announced a sweeping expansion to the German plant under plans to multiply output to one million cars per year, though objections from local residents and authorities have thrown a spanner in the works.
As of this March, Gruenheide's output was 5,000 vehicles per week or around 25% of its one-million-per-year output.
Tesla has not provided an update on its German output since March.