NEW YORK – The Wall Street Journal reports that Tesla Motors is developing electric vehicles (EVs) that go beyond the coming mass-market Model 3 offering, and projects there will be 1 million Teslas on the world’s roads by 2020.

JB Straubel, chief technical officer at Tesla, disclosed the company’s goal at a conference in Washington, D.C., this week, notes the Journal, saying that third-generation vehicles currently under development will be available as both sedans and crossovers. The Model 3 lineup is due in 2017, and is expected to cost about $35,000 with 200 miles of battery range.

Straubel noted that automakers, including General Motors, are expected to launch similar models by 2017, which will take EVs to “the spot where we see mass market adoption taking off.”

The Journal adds that Tesla executives believe lithium-ion battery technology will become so inexpensive and widely available that electric powertrains “will become the predominant and primary fuel for light vehicles,” replacing internal combustion engines as the industry’s mainstay propulsion system. Tesla is currently building a battery plant in Nevada to accelerate the shift.