Tesla's chief technical officer, JB Straubel, has revealed the next few steps of Tesla's world-domination plans. Most notably, the Tesla Model 3—due to go on sale in 2017—will come in two different flavours: sedan (saloon) and crossover. The pricing for both is still expected to be around $35,000 (~£25,000), and they will both get around 200 miles (320km) of range on a battery charge. Tesla currently plans to show off the Model 3 in March 2016, presumably at the Geneva Motor Show.

The Model 3 is Tesla's attempt to capture the mainstream market. $35,000 is still very much on the high end of "mainstream," but it's certainly a lot more affordable than the Model S, which starts at $75,000 (or £55,000 in the UK). Not a whole lot is known about the Model 3, other than it will be smaller than the Model S—and now, we know that it'll come in two versions: a sedan and a crossover. Straubel didn't mention timing, but it is highly likely that the sedan will come first, with the crossover utility vehicle (CUV) following some time after.

More immediately, however, Tesla is scheduled to start delivering the Model X CUV in the next few months (September 2015 is the current target). The Model X is based on the full-size sedan Model S platform, with the same 70kWh and 85kWh battery options; and indeed, the Model X also looks a taller, roomier Model S. Oh, except that it has frickin' gullwing doors. Pricing hasn't been announced for the Model X, but we expect it'll be at least as much as the Model S.

Speaking at a conference in Washington DC, Straubel said that, with the Model 3, Tesla projects that it will have 1 million cars on the road by 2020. By 2020, the company hopes to be selling 500,000 cars per year. According to The Wall Street Journal, Straubel said that Tesla is developing other cars that will come over the Model 3, but he didn't elaborate.

As of the end of March 2015, in just under three years of availability, Tesla has sold 66,000 Model Ses—so, selling 1 million within the next five years would be a rather large jump. Still, demand for both EVs and crossovers are growing, both in the US and around the world; if Tesla can produce the cars, it will probably be able to sell them.

Tesla is relying on two factors to increase its sales figures by such a huge margin: the mass-market appeal of the Model 3, and the continued drop in lithium-ion battery prices. The company's new gigafactory will produce an utterly insane number of lithium-ion batteries—about 50 gigawatt-hours by 2020. Right now, the price of 1kWh is about $400-$750 (exact prices are hard to come by); the gigafactory, plus other lithium-ion factories around the world, will hopefully drive that down to around $200/kWh.

If we look at the Model 3, you can see how the cost of lithium-ion battery production is really important. If the car has a 50kWh battery pack, it would cost at least $20,000 today—well over half the car's $35,000 sticker price. If the price of lithium-ion batteries drops to around $250/kWh by 2017, the battery pack would only cost $12,500—about the same percentage of the car's total cost as the Model S battery pack.

The feature image for this story was updated. The previous image may have been a Model S prototype, rather than a render of the Model 3.