Tesla CEO Elon Musk has all but killed any hope of the electric vehicle (EV) specialist’s long-rumoured US$25,000 (A$37,600) model coming to life. During his third-quarter 2024 earnings call to Tesla shareholders yesterday, Mr Musk said the US$25,000 (A$37,600) EV would be “pointless”, despite the brand teasing the possibility of the budget battery-powered model since 2020. “Basically, having a regular $25K model is pointless.
It would be silly. It would be completely at odds with what we believe,” Mr Musk told investors. “I think we’ve been very clear that the future is autonomous.
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The first reports about the affordable EV being canned emerged via Reuters in April, with the publication claiming three sources familiar with Tesla’s plans said the model was dead . This was quickly shot down by Mr Musk on his social media platform X (formerly Twitter), in which the Tesla CEO said “Reuters is lying, again”. Tesla chief designer Franz von Holzhausen also teased that the US$25,000 EV may not be dead in a later panel discussion, telling those attending to not “always believe what you read”.
However, as the launch of the now-revealed Tesla Cybercab – an autonomous two-seat robotaxi – neared, rumours grew louder that the brand wouldn’t follow its original plan of using the driverless vehicle’s platform for its cheap EV. T.
