Tesla Model III Could Cost US$50k Or More: Report

Tesla’s first ‘people’s car’ in the Model III (or ‘3’) will hit the market priced at around US$35,000 (AU$39,760), according to CEO Elon Musk. 

That would see the III take on the BMW 3 Series, Audi’s A4 and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, but a report out of the US suggests meeting that price-point in the new model will be a struggle.

Advanced Automotive Batteries’ Dr Menahem Anderman has prepared something of a case study on Tesla, and the findings indicate battery prices will be a major hurdle.

While Tesla’s new Gigafactory will drive battery prices down in the long term, the savings - measured in dollars per kWh - may not come soon enough for the III to have a 3 Series-matching price.

With all things considered, the report predicts an arrival-price for the new Model III of around US$50,000 (AU$56,800), rising to as high as US$80,000 (AU$90,889).

The latter would be a worst case scenario, as even the larger and upmarket Model S will soon be available in Australia with a comparable starting price.

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