Tesla may be a giant in the electric vehicle business, but its days of being the only serious EV manufacturer are long gone. Competition is intensifying, and that means change is coming.

As reported by Autocar, Tesla has revealed that it is working on an electric hatchback that will be available in 2023. As such, it will be smaller and less expensive, but will have the same Tesla features as other cars.

Elon Musk announced this news at Tesla's Battery Day event, promising that the car would cost less than $25,000.

Obviously, the price and size of this car is helped by an entirely new battery design. This new battery is 35% smaller than conventional batteries and uses a tabless design that promises to be cheaper, safer, and more powerful.

According to Tesla, this means the battery will provide five times more energy and six times more power, all of which combine to increase range per kilowatt-hour of juice by 16%.

Of course, the battery is only one aspect of the EV's structure, and this car is no different. Tesla's hatchback will have a new lightweight design, aided in part by the lighter weight of the battery and the fact that the battery pack will support the car's foundation. These will make it 10% lighter than a conventional EV and increase its range by an additional 14%.

It is unclear how much of this will translate to range after launch. However, last July, Elon Musk denounced cars with a range of less than 250 miles as "unacceptably low." That led to the cancellation of the standard-range Tesla Model Y, which only had a range of 244 miles.

In other words, a 250-mile minimum seems quite likely, which would be great at this price point. Of course, we cannot guarantee that this is the case, and things may change in the next year or two.

Musk also promised that Tesla hatchbacks will be fully autonomous. However, it is not clear whether he means the still hypothetical Level 5 autonomy, which does not require a human driver, or Tesla's "fully automated" autopilot.

Tesla is not currently announcing anything more about the car, but this is still great news. Tesla is a very attractive car, in part due to the fact that it offers the best performance and range compared to its competitors.

While the company is firmly committed to the premium electric vehicle market, it is great to see that it is not ignoring drivers on a tight budget, especially with the newly announced Tesla Model S Plaid and the upcoming Tesla Roadster 2022. Especially when the same performance and range are available at such a relatively low price.