Along with this, Musk cancelled plans for a $25,000 vehicle, as first reported by Reuters and immediately denied by Musk. Reuters was later shown to be correct in its report. Musk routinely denies true media reports. Despite canceling $25k Tesla, “more affordable models” were teased Even after canceling plans for the $25,000 “Model 2,” Tesla continued to say it was working on “more affordable models.” It started including that phrase in its quarterly reports in April 2024, in its Q1 report. At the time, it said it had “updated our future vehicle line-up to accelerate the launch of new models ahead of our previously communicated start of production in the second half of 2025.” In each report since then, Tesla has reiterated that “Plans for new vehicles, including more affordable models, remain on track for start of production in the first half of 2025.” The most recent inclusion of this phrase is in Tesla’s Q1 2025 report, which was released on April 22 of this year. Again, Tesla said that these models were on track for start of production in the first half of 2025. On that Q1 call, Tesla’s head of vehicle engineering, Lars Moravy, answered a question about the company’s more affordable models thusly: Yeah, we’re still planning to release models this year. As with all launches, we’re working through like the last-minute issues that pop up. We’re not getting down one by one. At this point, I would say that ramp maybe — might be a little slower than we had hoped initially, but there’s nothing, just kind of given the turmoil that exists in the industry right now. But there’s nothing blocking us from starting production within the next — within the timeline laid out in the opening remarks. And I will say, it’s important to emphasize that as we’ve said all along, the full utilization of our factories is the primary goal for these new products. And so flexibility of what we can do within the form factor and the design of it is really limited to what we can do in our existing lines rather than build new ones. But we’ve been targeting the low cost of ownership. Monthly payment is the biggest differentiator for our vehicles. And that’s why we’re focused on bringing these new models with the big, new lowest price to the market within the constraints of selling. That was said only two months ago, when Tesla should have had good visibility on the imminent start of production of new models. And the first half of 2025 ends on June 30, two days from now. As of yet, we have heard nothing more about it. We should have heard something by now Typically, in advance of the launch of a new model, we will get some sort of information. Rarely can a company, especially on with such a magnifying glass over everything it does, get away with a secret launch of something like a car. There’d be camouflaged vehicles, supplier reports, leaks from the inside, or something of the sort. Yet we’ve seen very little. Now… Tesla did say that it would start production, rather than start sales, within the first half of this year. So they don’t have to have it ready on the lot, and even starting trial production could kind of qualify. But even then – Tesla has never launched a surprise vehicle before without telling everyone about it well ahead of time. Tesla is known for its big hype vehicle unveilings, which often come many years before deliveries begin. Even new trim levels, like performance models, are usually known about months ahead of time. The last time Tesla did pull off an unexpected vehicle launch was the next-gen Roadster, but that was 8 years ago, and it still hasn’t gone into production. Even the Robovan concept unveiled at the Cybercab event, which wasn’t expected at that particular event, had seen leaks years prior. It might just be a stripped down Model 3/Y Another wrinkle is that Tesla has never really detailed exactly what the phrase “more affordable models” means. As best we can tell, the plan is to release a stripped-down version of the Model 3/Y, rather than an actual new model. However, in that case, the inclusion of the word “models” is strange, since that suggests an actual new model (or multiple new models) rather than just a cheaper version of an existing one. Tesla could really use a boost right now Importantly, now would be a good time for Tesla to have a more affordable model. The company is suffering from a huge sales decline in almost every territory where it sells – partially due to an aging product line, with only one new model released in the last 6 years, the Cybertruck… and it’s a flop.