In order to bring its Model Y compact crossover model to market sooner, and at a lower cost, Tesla has announced the forthcoming model will share components with the just-introduced Model 3 compact sedan.
From any other automaker, that would have been an obvious decision from the start -- the use of common platform architecture across multiple model lines cuts big bucks from the manufacturing process -- but Tesla CEO Elon Musk admits he has only very recently seen the light.
According to The Verge, he told business and economics reporters on August 2 that his executive team convinced him that his original plan to make the Model Y "completely different" from anything Tesla had produced before was not feasible.
"Upon the council (sic) of my executive team to reel me back from the cliffs of insanity, the Model Y will, in fact, be using substantial carry over from Model 3 in order to bring it to market faster,” Musk said during a call about the company's latest earnings.
But Musk isn't ready to abandon all of his wild ideas. He still wants to Tesla's future models to ditch the conventional 12-volt electrical system used in virtually all modern cars in an effort to reduce the amount of wiring required. And he said that though the Model Y will share much with the Model 3, it will incorporate some flashy stuff, including falcon-wing doors like those on the Model X.
In the same conference call, Musk revealed Tesla is averaging about 1,800 reservations for its Model 3 every day since an event last Friday to deliver the first examples of the car to customers. Tesla aims to ramp up Model 3 production to 5,000 cars per week by the end of 2017, and hit the 10,000 cars-per-week milestone sometime in 2018.
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