Elon Musk unveiled on Tuesday evening a new architecture to halve the cost of the battery of his Tesla, which is now inaccessible to a large part of consumers.

For Laurent Hecquet, director of the Observatory of Mobility Experts and guest of Europe 1, "competition is gradually setting in" in the electric car sector.

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An entry-level Tesla will cost $ 25,000, or 21,000 euros, in three years?

In any case, this is the promise made on Tuesday by Elon Musk, founder of the automotive firm specializing in electric cars.

To achieve this, the American entrepreneur intends to reduce the cost of batteries at the heart of his models.

A challenge for the future, according to Laurent Hecquet, director of the Observatory of mobility experts.

Guest from Europe 1 on Wednesday, this expert sees it above all as Tesla's strategy to keep control of an increasingly competitive market.

Braked by the plug-in hybrid

"Elon Musk was ahead", recalls Laurent Hecquet, "but he has less and less".

"Today, manufacturers are arriving with ranges called PEHVs, ie rechargeable hybrids", mixing heat engine and electric battery which is recharged by connecting to a socket.

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Other manufacturers, such as Mitsubishi, Toyota, Opel and Ford, are shaking up a market that is struggling to flourish, with vehicles that are still too expensive.

"Today, the electric vehicle is not sold," notes the mobility expert at the microphone of Sébastien Krebs.

"There is a reason: it is too expensive and its battery life is not yet up to what consumers can expect."

The plug-in hybrid, with the capacity to ensure long trips, has therefore carved out a share of the market, still meager, of the electric vehicle.

The battery, a crucial issue

Manufacturer of 100% electric cars, Tesla has therefore seen its lead shrink in this promising market.

It now relies on a reduction in the cost of the battery, "which represents three-quarters of the added value of the electric vehicle", to revive itself.

"When you are going to succeed in improving the production of the battery, in using much cheaper products to manufacture it, in increasing the life of the battery, in limiting its recycling, in increasing the autonomy, you will inevitably lower the battery. cost of this vehicle ", explains Laurent Hecquet.

"If Elon Musk takes a position on this, all the manufacturers who work on the electric vehicle are doing it too."