Science

The Car Tesla Needs to Hit Its 2020 Goal Will Come Out This Year 

It's all about the Model Y.

Tesla

On Wednesday, after admitting that electric car company Tesla is having trouble keeping up with the demand of their electric cars, Elon Musk stated that he still intends on producing one million vehicles a year by 2020, a prediction the Tesla CEO first made in May 2016.

Musk reassured investors by reiterating this goal during a 2017 fourth quarter earnings call where the company reported its worst quarterly losses to date. But the Model Y, which likely — though nothing’s official — to be revealed later this year, will help it achieve that goal in 2020.

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Unofficial Tesla Model Y concept art by a Tesla enthusiast. 

Peisert Design

In order for Tesla to achieve this ambitious milestone, it would need to begin producing the Model Y — the company’s cheaper version of the Model X.

The Model Y is still being developed, and there hasn’t been any official word of where Tesla will be producing the crossover SUV. Musk stated that he will be focusing fiscal efforts on the vehicle and locking down a location for manufacturing during the second half of 2018, with more news to come later this year.

“We are going to make some capital investments towards the end of this year related to Model Y. I don’t want to jump the gun on those, but I think we’ve got a good plan,” he said. “…I think we want to wait probably three to six months before announcing any definitive plans on production location and the details associated with that.”

Tesla’s fourth quarter report report noted it’s ramping up Model 3 production, that alone won’t be able to carry the company to its 1 million car a year objective.

Much like the Falcon Heavy launch, Tesla investors and enthusiasts around the world will be watching to see if Musk can get the Model Y off of the ground before 2020.

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