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ToggleTesla Abandoned Affordable Car? Musk: It’s Lying!
Source: Gasgoo
Investors have been counting on affordable electric vehicles to propel Tesla into a mass-market automaker, but according to sources from media, Tesla has scrapped the affordable electric vehicles and will continue to develop robotaxis.
Two employees said they learned of Tesla’s decision to drop the Model 2 (affordable car) at a meeting with dozens of employees, one of whom said the meeting took place in late February and “Elon’s direction was to go all in on robotaxis.”
Another person also confirmed Tesla’s cancellation of the affordable car program and said the new plan called for the production of robotaxis, but the production is expected to be much lower than Model 2.
Media reviewed several messages from Tesla about the decision, including one from an affordable car program manager on March 1, in which the manager discussed the program termination with engineering staff and advised them to delay telling suppliers about the “program cancellation.”
Another person with knowledge of Tesla’s plans expressed optimism about the company’s decision to shift from an affordable car strategy to robotaxis, which Musk sees as the future of mobility. But the person cautioned that Tesla’s product plans could change again depending on economic conditions.
Image source: X
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment. Musk wrote on social media platform X that “Reuters is lying (again).” However, he did not provide specifics. Shortly after, Musk posted on X that Tesla would launch robotaxis on August 8.
Image source: X
In addition, Musk posted an emoji “eye” on the same day to respond to a Tesla investor who speculated that the company was devoting more resources to bringing robotaxis to market.