Tesla Ditches Plans for $25,000 EV

As Reuters reports, CEO Elon Musk was asked during an earnings call Q&A about when to expect a $25,000 "non-robotaxi regular car model." Musk responded that "the future is autonomous," pointing to the Cybercab that Tesla unveiled last month.

"It should be blindingly obvious" that that's the direction Tesla is taking, Musk added, arguing that "having a regular $25K model is pointless."

In December 2023, however, Musk said Tesla was "obviously...working on a low-cost electric vehicle that’ll be made at very high volume." And when Reuters reported in April that Tesla had canceled plans for a $25,000 EV to focus on its robotaxi, Musk said the article was incorrect.

According to Tesla, "what matters [now] is lowest cost per mile of efficiency." Musk said the Cybercab will be around $25,000 to produce and available to purchase in some capacity, but it won't have a steering wheel, so it wouldn't be like purchasing a Model 3 or Cybertruck today.

However, Tesla plans to start fully autonomous, unsupervised Full Self-Driving in Texas and California next year for its Model 3 and Model Y EVs.