Elon Musk briefed a European battery conference on Tesla’s efforts to bring longer-range electric cars to market in the coming years, though he broke little new ground with regard to timing or other specifics.
The factory Tesla is building near Berlin will make cars tailored for European buyers, including smaller models that can park in dense urban environments, Musk said. He hinted earlier this year that the company might engineer a hatchback from Germany.
“In Europe, it would make sense to do a compact car, perhaps a hatchback,” Musk said during the event hosted by Germany as part of its European Union Council presidency. “I’m sure there will be others as well.”
Tesla will debut improved versions of existing models that approach 700 km (435 miles) of range and has cars under development for the long term that could reach 1,000 km, the CEO said Tuesday. Musk has tweeted before that the revived Roadster model will cross that threshold, but the car is years behind schedule.
Musk, who overtook Bill Gates as the world’s second-richest person on Monday, headlined the event along with others including German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier and his Italian counterpart Stefano Patuanelli. The big names reflect the amount of optimism in Europe about the region’s surge in electric-car demand.
Tesla currently sells four car models including its midsize Model 3 sedan and medium-sized Model Y and Model X crossovers.
All its vehicles are longer than Volkswagen’s Golf car, the European reference in compact sedans.
Musk said he had had some problems parking his 5000-mm (16.4-feet) long Model X in German capital Berlin.
“I was driving a Model X around Berlin and we had quite a bit of trouble finding a parking space where we could fit,” he said.
