Redwood Is The Name Of Tesla's Cheap New Car Produced Starting 2025

Tesla cars and solar roof innovation. (Doc. Tesla)

JAKARTA - Since its establishment from 2003 until now, you could say that there are not many car choices models that Tesla has offered. But with a focus only on electric cars with not many models and investments in charging infrastructure, Tesla has transformed into a giant electric car manufacturer in recent years.

But Tesla's dominance is now starting to get disturbed by BYD. It's true that Tesla is still the largest pure electric car manufacturer in the world, but if that number is pitted between environmentally friendly car manufacturers (EV, PHEV, and hybrid) then BYD is the champion in the last three years.

In fact, BYD beat Tesla specifically in the last quarter of 2023, where BYD sold more of Tesla's pure electric cars.

The Cybertruck is Tesla's latest lineup of models introduced at the end of 2023 to fill the void in Tesla's portfolio in the luxury electric pickup segment.

But soon, Tesla is rumored to be producing a new, more affordable product, a compact crossover called "Redwood". It is planned that this electric car will start production in mid-2025.

Reported by Reuters on January 24, this news comes from four trusted sources who know Tesla's plans. Two of them refer to the crossover as a compact model.

Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, has long mentioned that investors have planned to bring affordable electric vehicles and autonomous taxis produced using the latest generation electric car platform that is cheaper.

These models, including cars for $ 25,000 or equivalent to Rp. 392 million and are expected to compete with cheaper gasoline cars and a number of other cheap electric vehicles, such as those made by BYD.

Tesla is also said to have sent a "demand request" or invitation to bid for the "Redwood" model to suppliers last year. They estimate a weekly production volume of 10,000 vehicles. Production is expected to begin in June 2025.

The launch time of this latest generation of compact vehicles is one of the most questioned by investors to Tesla ahead of its quarterly financial results report on Wednesday afternoon, Jnauari 24. In the report, Tesla is expected to expect a 21% increase in shipments by 2024, well below the 50% long-term annual target set by Musk about three years ago.

In May, Musk said that Tesla was working on two new products, with the potential for combined sales reaching 5 million vehicles per year.

"Both product design and manufacturing engineering are well above anything in this industry," he said at Tesla's annual shareholder meeting.

With the planned presence of "Redwood", the hope of Tesla's more affordable and accessible electric car is even more real. It is worth waiting for further developments, hopefully the development and launch will not be like the one experienced by Cybertruck.