From WSJ (sub. req-d)
"Tesla Motors Inc. is developing electric cars that go beyond the coming mass-market Model 3 offering, and projects there will be a million Teslas on the world’s roads by 2020.
JB Straubel, Tesla’s chief technical officer, disclosed additional details of the luxury electric-car maker’s plans at a conference in Washington, D.C. on Monday, saying the third-generation vehicles currently under development will be available as both sedans and crossovers. Due in 2017, the Model 3 lineup is expected to cost about $35,000 and give drivers 200 miles worth of battery range.
Rivals including General Motors Co. are expected to launch similar models by then, taking the industry to “the spot where we see mass market adoption taking off,” he said.
At some point in the future, Tesla executives believe lithium-ion battery technology will become so inexpensive and widely available that electric powertrains “will become the predominant and primary fuel for light vehicles,” replacing internal combustion engines as the industry’s mainstay propulsion system. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company is building a battery plant in Nevada to accelerate the shift.
Mr. Straubel said several times during his presentation that Tesla is developing cars to come after the Model 3, but didn’t elaborate. By 2020, Tesla should be able to sell 500,000 annually, he said, reiterating the sales target set by Chief Executive Elon Musk. The new details come a few days after Tesla said it arranged an additional up to $750 million in funding. The credit facility provides breathing room for a company that burned through $500 million in cash during its first quarter.
Within four months, the company will launch the Model X crossover. Building on technology used for the Model S, the Model X will play in a U.S. crossover market forecast by WardsAuto.com to exceed 5 million vehicles in 2015, more than 13% higher than 2014 and double the size of that market a decade ago.
Mr. Musk has said the company faces a delicate balancing act in timing the Model X launch. Vehicle debuts consume an enormous amount of capital, and even slight delays in the timing of the launch could deepen Tesla’s losses or accelerate its cash burn.
On Monday, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said Tesla’s cash burn in 2015 “will likely be worse than we had previously expected” and “meaningfully negative.” The asset-backed credit facility “should boost its otherwise weaker year-over-year liquidity and help it fund its substantial growth-related cash investments over the next 12 months,” S&P said.
S&P affirmed a B- corporate credit rating with a stable outlook on the company. “In our opinion, the company could still tap additional sources of liquidity over the next 12 months to fund its ongoing growth investments,” the firm said.
Although highly anticipated, relatively little is known about the Model 3."
