Tesla’s Design Boss Says We Should “Stay Tuned” For $25,000 EV

Tesla’s long-awaited $25,000 entry-level EV does not appear to have been canceled as suggested by recent reports, with the firm’s chief designer saying we should all “stay tuned” to see what Tesla has up its sleeve.

Late last week, a report was published by Reuters claiming that Tesla had ended the development of its mass-market EV. This came as quite a shock as this new model, often referred to as the Model 2, was thought to be an instrumental part of Elon Musk’s ambition for Tesla to sell up to 20 million EVs annually. Soon after the Reuters story was published, Musk took to X to say the publication was “lying,” but failed to provide more information.

Read: Tesla’s Breakthrough Terapresses Could Slash Production Costs For Sub-$25K Model 2 EV

On Sunday, Tesla chief designer Franz von Holzhausen was a guest at a Q&A session at the Petersen Auto Museum in Los Angeles and was asked if the Model 2 was canceled or had been placed on the back burner.

“I would just say stay tuned,” von Holzhausen replied. “Just don’t always believe what you read.”

Like Musk’s simple four-word response on X, von Holzhausen didn’t provide any more details on the subject, other than implying that Tesla is indeed working on something.

There has been some speculation that Tesla may have recently shifted some of its focus away from the consumer-oriented Model 2 and towards the all-electric robotaxi it will share its platform with. Such a move wouldn’t come as a surprise, given that Musk attempted to put the project on hold in 2022, according to Walter Isaacson’s Musk biography. At the time it was thought Musk wasn’t too keen on the idea of the Model 2 and believed more resources should be shifted to the company’s robotaxi project.

_{Note: This article contains a speculative render that was not produced by, nor is it approved by, Tesla.}