Tesla unveils new all-electric SUV

Associated Press

HAWTHORNE, Calif.

Tesla unveiled a new all-electric SUV on Thursday night that the automaker hopes will win over consumers looking for an all-electric alternative in the most popular segment of the auto market.

Cheers from a hangar-packed crowd of Tesla customers, employees and members of the media welcomed a Model Y as it rolled out onto a stage next to the automaker’s other models.

“It has the functionality of an SUV, but it will ride like a sports car,” CEO Elon Musk told the crowd. “This thing will be really tight on corners, and we expect it will be the safest midsize SUV in the world by far.”

The Model Y seats seven and has a panoramic glass roof and a 15-inch touchscreen interface for accessing all the car’s controls.

The all-electric, mid-size SUV will start at $39,000 for the standard range version, which the company said can go 230 miles on a single charge. The long-range model, which starts at $47,000, has a range of up to 300 miles on a single charge – less range than the Model 3.

A dual-motor, all-wheel drive version of the Model Y starts at $51,000 while the performance version of the car, which boasts acceleration of 0-60 mph in as little as 3.5 seconds and a top speed of up to 150 mph, starts at $60,000.

The Model Y may be Tesla’s most important product yet as it attempts to expand into the mainstream and generate enough cash to repay massive debts that threaten to topple the Palo Alto, Calif., company.

Tesla got a huge boost toward ensuring its survival with the 2017 debut of its Model 3 sedan, but an SUV could have even more mass appeal, given how popular SUVs have become in the U.S., Europe and Canada.

The U.S. market share for SUVs, crossovers, vans and pickup trucks stood at 69 percent in January, up from just 48.5 percent a decade ago, according to the research firm IHS Markit.

But most SUVs still run on gasoline, leaving Tesla to cater to consumers looking for an all-electric alternative. The Model Y’s main competition is likely to be the Mercedes-Benz EQC, and the Jaguar I-Pace, according to the research firm LMC Automotive.