Tesla Model Y: New car will be released in 2020, Elon Musk says

The car can't be built in Tesla's huge, existing factory

Tesla will release its upcoming new Model Y in 2020, Elon Musk has said.

Despite recent reports that the unreleased car could soon go into production, the Tesla boss said that it wouldn't start being made until 2020 at the earliest.

But it is worth taking that commitment with a pinch of salt: it came during an earnings call in which the boss was criticised for his company's inability to actually make the cars it needs to, and after a run of failures to meet previous deadlines.

This time around, however, Mr Musk has committed to bringing about a "manufacturing revolution" in order to ensure the car is made. It will be "incredible from a manufacturing standpoint", he said.

It will need to be made somewhere else, however, because Tesla's factory in Fremont, California is "jammed to the gills" busily making its existing cars, Mr Musk said. He could not say where the new model would be built.

Mr Musk has also said that the new car – a crossover-style vehicle – will use many of the components from its existing Model 3. That will allow it to be made more quickly than the other cars, he has claimed.

He suggested during the call that he would be able to change the way that automation is used to create the car to ensure that the robots in the Tesla production process are much efficient and can build the cars more quickly.

Tesla will certainly hope that is true. The company has been repeatedly criticised for its inability to produce enough vehicles – and the comments came during an earnings call in which it revealed that it had its highest revenues ever but also its biggest losses.

With the release of the Model Y, Elon Musk's vision for the naming conventions of his cars will become complete. The full portfolio of cars, listed together, will then read S3XY, a joke that Mr Musk has been fond of repeatedly making.