Speculation Swirls Around Mystery Tesla Model

A new Tesla model – possibly a minimalist version of an existing model – is slated to begin production this month, fueling speculation about what exactly it is.

Tesla executives have been pretty clear about timing. “We’re still focused on bringing cheaper models to market soon. The start of production is still planned for June,” said Tesla chief financial officer Vaibhav Taneja during the first quarter earnings conference call on April 22.

What it isn’t: the Model 2 that never was

A June 2 Reuters story claims to confirm that the so-called $25,000 “Model 2” was canceled by CEO Elon Musk. This comes more than a year after Musk denied the original April 2024 Reuters report about cancellation of the project, saying at that time that “Reuters is lying." The Model 2 – nomenclature used by analysts to designate a low-cost Tesla – was supposed to be a revolutionary low-cost vehicle that used Tesla’s latest and greatest manufacturing technology to reduce production costs. Signs now point to a less radical design based on existing platforms.

What it is

Lars Moravy, VP Vehicle Engineering at Tesla, said in the Q1 call that the new “models that come out in next months…will resemble, in form and shape, the cars we currently make. And the key is that they’ll be affordable, and you’ll be able to buy one.” Reuters now reports that the vehicle is something code named E41 but claims it is delayed until later this year or early next year. That timing would seem to contradict what Tesla’s CFO said (above) in the Q1 earning conference call, though Moravy did mention that the “ramp maybe -- might be a little slower than we had hoped initially" when referring to the future affordable models.

Rumors: camo wrap mystery model spotted

Last week, a Model Y in camo wrap at the Tesla Fremont, Calif. factory sparked speculation that Tesla was about to start production of a new stripped down Model Y. But pushback on social media claimed that it was simply the unannounced Performance version of the Juniper Model Y. And camo-wrapped Model Ys have appeared elsewhere that appear to be the Performance version. That didn’t stop speculation that the Fremont images appear to show different proportions than the standard Tesla Model Y, possibly shorter or more compact, which would be in line with a stripped down model.

When: Robotaxi rolls out this month, will new models debut?

Unsupervised robotaxis will hit roads in Austin in June, Elon Musk said in an interview with CNBC. Unsupervised means the car has no human driver – like Waymo’s robotaxi service. “We have thousands of cars that are being tested,” Musk said, adding that initial deployment will be very small but Musk expects that "we will probably be at 1,000 within a few months" then expand to other cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles.

That event could also host new vehicles. Tesla has already demonstrated the radical-looking Cybercab. And it’s probably not a coincidence that Tesla is also scheduled to start production of the new unannounced affordable model in June. That upcoming model is expected to be autonomous-capable and FSD compliant.