Melbourne Motor Show 2025. (Photo by Alexander Bogatyrev/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images 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 and what the price might be. 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.” That would pretty clearly imply a price below current Tesla models. In December, Deutsche Bank said a new affordable model would be under $30,000 after federal incentives. 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. MORE FOR YOU