Tesla to speed up rollout of cheaper electric cars

It came as Tesla said profits in the first three months of the year fell by 55pc to $1.1bn, while revenues dropped by 8.7pc to $21.3bn – the biggest drop in more than a decade.

The company has been hit by wavering consumer demand for electric cars, higher interest rates making purchases more expensive and the closure of its German factory after an arson attack by environmentalists.

Its shares had fallen by more than 40pc this year, before last night’s results.

Tesla – a pioneer in electric cars – has been squeezed both by sagging consumer demand for battery-powered vehicles and increasing competition particularly from Chinese manufacturers.

At the end of last year it was briefly overtaken as the world’s biggest electric vehicle seller by volume by China’s BYD, although it reclaimed the title at the start of 2024. BYD and other Chinese sellers have dramatically brought down the cost of new electric vehicles.

Mr Musk said car manufacturers were pulling back on electric vehicles. “A lot of other auto manufacturers are pulling back on EVs and pursuing plug in hybrids instead. We believe this is not the right strategy, and electric vehicles will ultimately dominate the market,” he said.

He added that the company’s self-driving technology would soon surpass human drivers. “[It is] only a matter of time before we exceed the reliability of humans. And not much time at that,” he said.

Mr Musk said Tesla was in discussions with other car makers about licensing Tesla’s driverless technology.

Sales of electric cars in Britain fell to 15.2pc of all new vehicles registered in March, down from 16.2pc a year earlier. Earlier this month Tesla said it had delivered 386,810 cars in the first three months of the year, significantly less than the 422,875 a year earlier.