Chief executive Elon Musk, who revealed the new model at a launch event on Thursday evening at Tesla’s design studio in the Californian city, said the compact SUV, built on the same platform as the company’s Model 3, will first debut in a long-range version with a range of 300 miles (480km), and will sell for $47,000.

Regarding the prices of the new model, it will start at $39,000 (£30,000), going up to $60,000.

The Model Y makes the car slightly more expensive than Tesla’s mass-market Model 3, but significantly cheaper than the Model X, the company’s previous family-sized car.

Furthermore, Musk said the mid-sized SUV comes with a glass roof and seven seats, a capacity of 66 cubic feet (1,870 litres), and goes from 0-60mph in 3.5 seconds.

The Model Y is Musk’s fifth car ever to hit the road, and the company’s second attempt at a mass-market electric vehicle, with Musk describing the vehicle as having “the functionally of an SUV but rides like a sports car.”

Furthermore, Musk said he anticipates 5-star crash ratings and high safety marks across the board and boasted that “this will be the safest mid-sized SUV by far.”

The Model Y was revealed at a crucial time for Tesla. In its first full year of production, the Model 3 sedan became the best-selling EV in the world in 2018.

However, according to Musk, Tesla’s drive to make that many Model 3s nearly killed the company, and there has been speculation that Tesla may have exhausted demand for the car in the US.

The company turned its attention to Europe and China as a result of this, and even within these regions, early sales of the Model 3 have been slow.

Tesla’s targeted volume production date of late 2020 for the Model Y would put it behind electric SUV offerings from Volkswagen AG’s Audi, Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz and BMW.

According to Jessica Caldwell, executive director of industry analysis at Edmunds, competition in the SUV space is “fierce”, with the German automakers mentioned above already shipping their own SUVs.

“If Tesla truly wants to be a mainstream brand, it’s going to have to figure out how to sell cars to people besides young men in California,” Caldwell said in a statement.

“Tesla has the right foundation for the Model Y to be a turning point: Tesla has the youngest buyer base of any luxury brand, and the Model X has more female buyers than any other vehicle in the brand’s line-up,” Cadwell added.

“If the Model Y is priced right, offers a roomy interior, and delivers flawless safety and quality, it has the potential to be the ‘it’ vehicle for young families.”

Tesla plans to start delivering higher-performance models of the car in the autumn of 2020, with the cheapest version going on sale in the spring of 2021. “You never know, we might do better than this. But it’ll be at least as good,” Musk concluded.

At the start of March 2019, the company said it will close its physical stores and instead sell all of its vehicles online in a cost-saving measure that it hopes will bring greater profitability to its $35,000 (£26,000) Model 3.

Chief executive Elon Musk, who revealed the new model at a launch event on Thursday evening at Tesla’s design studio in the Californian city, said the compact SUV, built on the same platform as the company’s Model 3, will first debut in a long-range version with a range of 300 miles (480km), and will sell for $47,000.

Regarding the prices of the new model, it will start at $39,000 (£30,000), going up to $60,000.

The Model Y makes the car slightly more expensive than Tesla’s mass-market Model 3, but significantly cheaper than the Model X, the company’s previous family-sized car.

Furthermore, Musk said the mid-sized SUV comes with a glass roof and seven seats, a capacity of 66 cubic feet (1,870 litres), and goes from 0-60mph in 3.5 seconds.

The Model Y is Musk’s fifth car ever to hit the road, and the company’s second attempt at a mass-market electric vehicle, with Musk describing the vehicle as having “the functionally of an SUV but rides like a sports car.”

Furthermore, Musk said he anticipates 5-star crash ratings and high safety marks across the board and boasted that “this will be the safest mid-sized SUV by far.”

The Model Y was revealed at a crucial time for Tesla. In its first full year of production, the Model 3 sedan became the best-selling EV in the world in 2018.

However, according to Musk, Tesla’s drive to make that many Model 3s nearly killed the company, and there has been speculation that Tesla may have exhausted demand for the car in the US.

The company turned its attention to Europe and China as a result of this, and even within these regions, early sales of the Model 3 have been slow.

Tesla’s targeted volume production date of late 2020 for the Model Y would put it behind electric SUV offerings from Volkswagen AG’s Audi, Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz and BMW.

According to Jessica Caldwell, executive director of industry analysis at Edmunds, competition in the SUV space is “fierce”, with the German automakers mentioned above already shipping their own SUVs.

“If Tesla truly wants to be a mainstream brand, it’s going to have to figure out how to sell cars to people besides young men in California,” Caldwell said in a statement.

“Tesla has the right foundation for the Model Y to be a turning point: Tesla has the youngest buyer base of any luxury brand, and the Model X has more female buyers than any other vehicle in the brand’s line-up,” Cadwell added.

“If the Model Y is priced right, offers a roomy interior, and delivers flawless safety and quality, it has the potential to be the ‘it’ vehicle for young families.”

Tesla plans to start delivering higher-performance models of the car in the autumn of 2020, with the cheapest version going on sale in the spring of 2021. “You never know, we might do better than this. But it’ll be at least as good,” Musk concluded.

At the start of March 2019, the company said it will close its physical stores and instead sell all of its vehicles online in a cost-saving measure that it hopes will bring greater profitability to its $35,000 (£26,000) Model 3.