Musk unveils Tesla’s SUV with price range of $39,000 to $60,000

CEO Elon Musk unveiled the electric carmaker’s latest vehicle, the Model Y SUV, in California on Thursday.

The most affordable version of the Model Y will cost $39,000, with pricier versions ranging from $47,000 to $60,000 that will ship starting 2020.

But Tesla didn’t reveal where it will make the vehicle and how it plans to scale production to meet demand.

The Model Y launch comes in the middle of a tumultuous phase for Tesla. The SEC wants Musk to be charged with contempt for tweeting “inaccurate and material” information about the company, while key executives have left the company and it faces government scrutiny over driver deaths linked to its autopilot feature.

“It has the functionality of an SUV, but it will ride like a sports car,” CEO Elon Musk told the crowd at the unveiling. “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 (38-centimeter) touchscreen interface for accessing all the car’s controls.

The all-electric, mid-size SUV can go 230 miles (370 kilometers) on a single charge. The long-range model, which starts at $47,000, has a range of up to 300 miles (483 kilometers) 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 (97 kph) in as little as 3.5 seconds and a top speed of up to 150 mph (241 kph), 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, California, 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.