Industry leader Tesla has indeed postponed the development of its long-promised $25,000 electric car codenamed NV9, Electrek reports, citing people familiar with the matter. It ultimately contradicts Chief Executive Elon Musk’s denial of recent reports claiming that the electric vehicle giant had scrapped the project.
Brief background
The Musk-led electric automaker has been developing its next-gen vehicle platform to deliver more affordable models in the market. So far, Tesla has only mentioned two planned models to ride on the new platform, including the following:
- $25,000 Tesla EV or Model 2: Cheaper and smaller than the Model 3 electric sedan
- Tesla Robotaxi: Self-driving electric car the company developed from scratch
Elon Musk denies reports about ditching NV9
Tesla Chief Elon Musk denied Reuters’ report claiming the company canceled its $25,000 electric car project in early April. For context, the NV9 is among the highest hopes of investors to push Tesla’s growth amid the customers’ increasing preference for lower-cost EVs over luxury models.
However, CEO Musk’s denial is likely due to the report’s use of words like “scrapped” and “canceled.” The Tesla boss might not be fine with reports claiming that the project is canceled. Nonetheless, the NV9 development is definitely delayed right now as the company is focusing its resources on its self-driving initiatives.
NV9 is not “cancelled” but scratched
The unnamed sources disclosed that CEO Elon Musk told its team in Austin last December that the expansion of Giga Texas for the $25k car development was a priority for this year.
However, Tesla apparently recently withdrew funding for the project. Moreover, many people in the said Austin team were affected by the recent layoff.
The Tesla boss reportedly said that the company now aims to focus its efforts and resources on Giga Texas’ south expansion, which will witness the rise of a huge data center for the Robotaxi project.
The report sources further disclosed that the project is already behind CEO Musk’s initial timeline, which is by late August 2024. It is also interesting to note that CEO Musk announced the unveiling of its Robotaxi on August 8, shortly after renouncing Reuters’ report.
