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$25,000 Tesla Hatchback Rendered With Model 3 Styling Influences

Tesla had a rocky start with the Roadster, but hindsight is 20/20. Compared to the Nissan Leaf and the General Motors EV1 limited-run coupe, the Palo Alto-based company made battery-electric vehicles cool. Even the Model S is over-the-top insane in terms of performance, but we have to remember that Elon Musk has even higher ambitions for Tesla.
$25,000 Tesla hatchback rendering by Sugar Design 12 photos
Photo: @sugardesign_1 on Instagram
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I am referring to the entry-level electric vehicle we’ve been hearing for eons now. At Battery Day last year, Elon Musk confirmed the low-cost electric vehicle with a starting price of $25,000 without going into the finest of details. Does that figure include the federal tax credit, state-level incentives, or any savings at all? We don’t know, and Tesla still is mum on the subject.

On the upside, we have a rough image of the newcomer. Posted in January 2020 on the automaker’s Chinese website, a design sketch of the “Model 2” or whatever it’s going to be called reveals a three-/five-door hatch of sorts.

The sneak peek was followed by a regional design center tasked with penning a Chinese-style car. Last summer, Tesla kicked the project in high gear by taking design submissions for the yet-to-be-named electric vehicle.

According to the latest hearsay from the Middle Kingdom, trial production is expected to start at the end of 2021 and series production would begin sometime in 2022 for the 2023 model year. This particular timeframe is pretty damn tight by automotive standards, and the chief executive officer of Tesla is known for overpromising and underdelivering. Take, for instance, the Roadster 2.0, Cybertruck, and Semi that have all been delayed to 2022.

In the meantime, pixel wizards are trying to imagine the $25,000 hatchback with familiar styling instead of the design sketch I’ve mentioned earlier. Sugar Chow used the Model 3 as the basis for his rendering, and the five-door compact doesn’t look half bad in my humble opinion. Tesla is most likely going to borrow a few parts from the Model 3 to keep costs as low as possible, but do remember that not even a single prototype has been spied thus far.

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Editor's note: Tesla China design sketch also featured in the photo gallery.

About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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