Tesla Motors,
the world's most successful electric car maker is now planning to infiltrate
into the Indian automotive market discreetly with its silent electric cars.
According to news reports, Tesla is working on a smaller four-door sedan,
project name Tesla Model 3 to target markets like India whist making them
affordable.
Named after
the electrical engineer and physicist, Nikola Tesla, Tesla Motors is a US based
car manufacturer which designs and sells electric cars and EV Powertrain
components. The company started in 2003, and by 2008, the company’s
breakthrough came with the first ever fully electric sports car, the Tesla
Roadster which used an AC Motor which was a direct descendant from Tesla’s
original design from 1882 using Lithium-ion Battery cells being the first ever
electric vehicle to reach a range of 320km per charge.
The company
sold 2,250 Roadsters from 2008 to 2012 in over 31 countries. The company
followed this successful formula that they used in the roadster for the Tesla
Model S which is an all electric sedan. The company then
revealed that by the Q3 of 2015, it will also produce an electric crossover
called the Model X when they revealed the concept in 2012. Franz Hans Holzhausen
the design chief of Tesla Motors designed the roadster, sedan and the X
Concept, news reports now suggest that the company is working on a new small 4
door sedan called the Model 3 which will use the same technology and will be designed
by Holzhausen as it competes with the likes of the Audi A4, Mercedes C-Class,
BMW 3 series and now the upcoming Jaguar XE thus making the technology more
affordable to emerging markets like India.
The Indian
government already has a National Electric Mobility Mission Plan in place where
it wants 6-7 million electric vehicles on the road in India by 2020. The
affordability the Tesla Model 3 will bring is just what the doctor ordered. But
the government policy is yet to be approved and implemented. Indian electric vehicle
makers like Mahindra Reva, Hero Eco, Tata Motors, etc are waiting for such a
plan to be put in place so that there is increased demand for electric vehicles
in India.