Tesla have been hard at work lately – they are almost ready for the release of their latest Model X, and there has been a lot of talk about the new model in the press lately, so they are probably under quite a bit of pressure to get this right too. Their previous launch – that of the Model S – went through in similar conditions, although the company seems to have even more eyes focused on it at the moment, as people are very excited to see how Tesla could reshape the auto market in the near future.
This is an important release, according to many critics, not just for Tesla themselves but for the market as a whole. This car has the true potential to change people’s attitudes towards the idea of electric cars and hybrids, something which the Model S already started doing quite successfully. And with that, we might see a lot more emphasis on these types of cars in the future, not just from Tesla but from other companies on the market as well.
These effects can already be seen in some areas of the market, as other companies have started to come out with their own respective electric models and have been doing quite well. According to some, at least part of this success can be attributed to Tesla, as Elon Musk has been putting a lot of effort in improving the public’s perception for electric vehicles.
Sure, other companies have also been doing quite a lot in this regard, but Tesla are the ones that are truly pushing the idea of electric cars right in people’s faces, not just by releasing good-looking cars, but also by building their own network of Superchargers, aimed at their own customers. The network is already spreading across the United States rapidly, and the most recent reports claimed that Tesla have already set their sights on Northern California, their next target for the expansion of the Supercharger network.
Some reports are a bit worrying, however – it looks like Tesla have been losing a lot of money since the beginning of 2014, something which can be explained with falling sales of the Model S and rising development and production costs for the Model X, on the other hand. This is not a rare occurrence for companies that are relatively new to the market and are developing a new product, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be a negative sign, but it does point towards something else – Tesla need that release to be successful if they are to continue on this market.
Indeed, if the Model X fails to catch on, Tesla could find themselves in trouble. Not only will they lose a lot of money on their investment, but this will also set some bad trends for the future of the market, as it will indicate to people that the whole electric concept is not something they might be so interested in after all.
That’s the downside to Tesla’s huge popularity right now and all the attention the market has towards them. As long as Tesla are successful, everything is good – but if the company gets in trouble and loses their presence on the market, this is going to affect everyone, not just them. And it could slow down the advancement of electric cars into the mainstream, something which would be bad not only for car makers, but the environment as well.