Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) Making Bold Moves To Out-Do Competitors

Elon Musk, CEO and founder of Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) is taking bold measures to keep Tesla the dominant player in the electric vehicle market, and keep competitors trailing behind.

Tesla’s Model S is the most well known and top vehicle in this market – particularly in its technology and performance. However, the company is developing other vehicles to compete against its rivals, such as BMW.

The BMW i3 has been gaining footing in the electric car space. It features special battery cell technology, which it developed in partnership with Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KRX:005930). It has offered to share the technology with Tesla and other competitors in the hopes of providing a better price for everyone on the battery cell technology.

However, Tesla plans to release a model of car that competes directly with the i3. Named the Model 3, Tesla’s upcoming vehicle is expected to debut onto the market by 2017.

The Model 3 is expected to be smaller than Tesla’s Model S by 20$. This is the ideal size to compete against BMW’s i3 and other smaller electric vehicles currently in the market (as well as others that will be released in the future).

Reports say that the Model 3 will be priced starting at around $35,000. Analysts say that this car could pose a significant threat to all other companies in the industry, and are spurring them to think of strategy that gives them a chance to retain a viable piece of the market.

Competitors still have to compete with Tesla’s Supercharger network. The network of chargers in nearly every corner of the United States allows Tesla users to access a charger no matter where they go with their electric vehicle. It also provides Tesla with a significant advantage over its competitors, who lack the security of abundant charging stations.

Tesla’s Model 3 will also have a range of roughly 200 miles, an asset that even its closest competitors can’t match.

Instead of using a shrunken down version of the Model S, the Model 3 will be based on an entirely different platform. Rather than using aluminum for the Model 3, as Tesla has done with its previous models of car, the company will use steel.

The design team of the Model 3 will be headed by Chris Porrit, Tesla’s Vice President of vehicle engineering. Porrit is also the former chief engineer at Aston Martin. Porrit said, “We expect there will be very little carry over. We’ve got to be cost effective.”

Tesla also plans to launch the Model X next year, a cross-over electric vehicle.

Tesla has been built into a powerful brand with market authority that reaches even Wall Street. With all the successes of Tesla in the past, and the line up of upcoming models (including the inexpensive Model 3), there is a very high chance that the shares of Tesla will skyrocket, and yield nice rewards for its investors.