Rodolfo Paiz
Fidelius Family Office
A next-gen Roadster does not have to be a hugely-expensive limited-edition halo car. In fact, I believe it shouldn't be. Tesla needs to grow, and sell lots of cars, and be very profitable, and ensure its long-term survival. And the best way I can see to do that is to go after the BMW 3-series and comparable cars with a vengeance.
The Gen-III platform could easily spawn a sedan, a coupe, a 2+2 convertible, and a two-seat roadster, all built on the same chassis with the same powertrain and battery options. BMW did it with the 3-series: sedan, coupe, convertible, roadster. You can then offer Standard, Performance, and P+ versions of each of those by varying inverter, motor, tires, suspension... and the overall product family would still have huge commonalities that would make it affordable for Tesla to build, easier to market. I'd trade in my Model S for an AWD P+ Model E Convertible (2+2), with the biggest battery Tesla offers me at that point, in a heartbeat. And it's an easy sell for a large market segment that ALREADY exists and is KNOWN to have 100K+ potential in annual volume.
Why should Tesla make things any harder for itself than absolutely necessary?
The Gen-III platform could easily spawn a sedan, a coupe, a 2+2 convertible, and a two-seat roadster, all built on the same chassis with the same powertrain and battery options. BMW did it with the 3-series: sedan, coupe, convertible, roadster. You can then offer Standard, Performance, and P+ versions of each of those by varying inverter, motor, tires, suspension... and the overall product family would still have huge commonalities that would make it affordable for Tesla to build, easier to market. I'd trade in my Model S for an AWD P+ Model E Convertible (2+2), with the biggest battery Tesla offers me at that point, in a heartbeat. And it's an easy sell for a large market segment that ALREADY exists and is KNOWN to have 100K+ potential in annual volume.
Why should Tesla make things any harder for itself than absolutely necessary?