The confusing Tesla sub-Model 3 for $25,000. The electric car that everyone can use. I’m not even sure when I was told about it for the first time, let alone all the times it was meant to be shown but wasn’t. Reuters says that the car’s maker seems to have stopped it, so we may have to wait a little longer—or maybe forever—to see it. Don’t worry, though; the reported Model 2’s platform will likely be used by Tesla’s future robotaxi, which is still supposedly being worked on. Reuters says that this change came about because of “three sources familiar with the matter” and “company messages” about the decision. Rapidly disputing the article, Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk said on X, “Reuters is lying (again),” as is always the case when a reporter writes about something Musk would rather the public not know or think about. The news outlet talked to several sources, and one said, “Elon’s order is to go all in on robotaxi.” Another said that the Model 2 cancellation was communicated within the company around the end of February. Reuters got a hold of a chat in which a program manager told technical staff not to call vendors “about program cancellation.” Reuters says that Musk still thinks robotaxis are “the future of mobility,” but another person who knows about the company’s plans says that these are still unclear. On March 1, the same manager is said to have called workers and said, “I’d like to thank everyone for all your hard work and dedication to pushing boundaries and executing the best design possible given the strict constraints we had to work within.” We want all of our hard work to be useful, so we need to finish up and carefully record everything. There have been reports for years that Tesla was going to release an entry-level model. Since then, the market for cheap EVs has become very competitive. This is especially true in China, where automakers are losing market share to several rivals, most notably BYD, which has kept the profit margins it needs to grow by selling similar products at much lower prices. Musk might be ready to give up on that obstacle if he thinks that making robotaxis available to the public will help Tesla stand out more. It seems likely that Reuters is not “lying.”
