Tesla May Be Planning EV Under $25,000

Rumors about an affordable, electric vehicle from Tesla with a price tag of $25,000 have been swirling around for a little over a year. But a report from Inside EVs claims that the electric car is right around the corner. Additionally, it’s going to be packing one very interesting design feature.

The outlet, citing Tesla fan and investor Sawyer Meritt, claims that Tesla’s $25,000 EV will start production in 2023. The vehicle won’t be called the Model 2 and may not come with a steering wheel. There’s not a lot of information, but it’s more than what we’ve heard about the vehicle in the past.

While the information sounds plausible, we’re not sure how credible it is. Inside EVs cites Merritt who took to Twitter to claim that one of his unnamed sources was on an all-hands call with Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk. Merrit started a Twitter thread to share all of the information that the anonymous source provided. Tesla fans tend to get up-to-date information, but this is a he-said-she-said case, so it’s hard to know if it’s real.

The information does line up with things Musk has said before. At last year’s Tesla Battery Day, Musk stated that the automaker was looking to make a $25,000 electric car, though details on the vehicle were light. At the time, Musk also stated that the $25,000 vehicle would be fully autonomous.

Tesla’s most affordable vehicle in its current lineup is the $41,190 Model 3. So, hearing about a $25,000 electric car may cause people’s alarms to go off. Apparently, the price for the upcoming EV is possible because of Tesla’s new battery manufacturing effort and battery cells that greatly reduce the cost of its batteries. At the moment, we’re skeptical about the possibility of a $25,000 Tesla after seeing what happened with the $35,000 Model 3.

Then, there’s the part about the vehicle possibly not coming with a steering wheel. Merrit claims that one of his sources said that Musk asked employees if they wanted the car to come with a steering wheel and pedals. In the real world, that seems incredibly unlikely.

Autonomous vehicles that consumers can purchase aren’t available yet and won’t be for some time. Beyond the technology required for an autonomous car, which Tesla doesn’t have based on its beta version of its Full Self-Driving feature, there’s the whole government aspect of the situation that’s likely to take years to sort out at the federal level.

We’re sure Tesla is working on a $25,000 EV, but the whole it’s coming in 2023 and won’t have a steering wheel seem unlikely. Most of the automaker’s deliveries have been pushed back to 2022, as production for its vehicles is struggling to keep up with demand. And because Tesla is Tesla, the electric cars that the automaker can deliver before 2022 are its most expensive ones. The highly anticipated Cybertruck has been pushed back to 2022 as Tesla focuses on increasing the production of the Model Y, too.

Theoretically, a small, $25,000 EV would slot in under the Model 3 as the most affordable vehicle in the brand’s lineup. It would certainly make Tesla an even more popular brand.

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