ELON MUSK: Tesla's SUV Will Be More Popular Than The Model S Sedan

It expects to raise weekly production rates of the its Model S sedan from 600 to 1,000, news that sent the stock soaring.

On a conference call following the announcement, CEO Elon Musk was asked how demand looks for Tesla's Model X, the all-electric crossover that will go into production later this year.

As usual, Musk was quite confident. Despite making no marketing push to promote the car, he said, Tesla has seen huge customer interest. Comparing it to a fishing trip, he said, "It's like the fish are jumping into the boat."

Later in the call, Musk was asked how he expects sales of the X to compare to the S. With the caveat that this is just an early guess, he said, demand for the SUV will likely exceed demand for the sedan.

You can now reserve a Model X for $5,000 and expect to get the car sometime in 2015. Pricing hasn't been announced yet, but Musk has said it will be slightly more expensive than the Model S, which starts for $63,570, after a $7,500 federal tax credit.

According to users on the Tesla Motors Club forum, about 8,000 orders for the Model X have already been placed.

In Q4 2013, Tesla accelerated engineering work on the X. This year, it plans to finish developing the car, and start early work on the third generation, "affordable" electric car, which will likely be revealed at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show.