Elon Musk says next, cheaper Tesla EV coming in 2016 or '17

Tesla Motors will offer its next production model (and its fourth ever, including the discontinued Roadster) by 2017 at the latest, part of the California-based automaker work to offer a less-expensive option than the Model S sedan and the upcoming Model X SUV. The dates were given by Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a recent interview to Engadget, who said the car would be here, "Hopefully 2016, but I would say no later than 2017."

The yet-to-be-named model will be "slightly smaller" than the Model S and could be priced at about half of what the Model S costs. The Model S ranges from $70,000 to $100,000. Musk also said the company's network of Supercharger stations will always be free to Tesla owners and that, while the company has "great product," its service offerings have room for improvement.

Last week, Tesla said that it earned its first-ever quarterly profit for the three months ended March 31, and that it was discontinuing the least expensive, shortest-range Model S because of lack of demand. Musk, in the Engadget interview, called the 40-kWh model "kind of sluggish."

The company also said last month that the debut of its Model X SUV would not come out until late 2014 to allow Tesla to better focus on Model S sales and service.