Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed that the electric vehicle maker is not planning to release a $25,000 model, appearing to reverse comments he made six months ago when he denied a news report saying exactly that.
The billionaire entrepreneur and top donor to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign commented on the status of the so-called Model 2 EV on Wednesday after the Austin-based company reported a stronger-than-expected third-quarter profit. He was asked specifically about the status of the low-cost, non-robotaxi car while taking questions from Tesla retail investors during an earnings call.
“We’re not making a non-robotaxi model,” he said. “I think we’ve made very clear that the future is autonomous.”
Earlier this month, Musk unveiled his vision for Tesla’s future with its Cybercab robotaxi model at a show for fans of the brand at Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, California, claiming the two-seat autonomous electric vehicle would sell for about $30,000 when it goes into production in 2026. Whether such a product will actually arrive on time and at the promised price remains to be seen. Overall, the company’s goal is to lower the price of all its products and Musk said it’s on track to sell vehicles that cost less than $30,000, once government subsidies are factored in.
In April, Reuters reported that Tesla had canceled the Model 2 program, a vehicle that might have been produced in a new plant the company was hoping to build in Mexico. Musk denied the Reuters report at the time, writing on X, the social media platform he owns, that the news agency was “lying.” Nevertheless, over the past six months, he offered no details on whether such a vehicle was in the works. The company also set aside plans to build the Mexican factory.
Musk has repeatedly tied Tesla’s future to autonomous driving and humanoid robots, rather than simply selling electric vehicles and batteries. Nevertheless, in the quarter that ended on Sept. 30, 89% of Tesla’s $25.2 billion of revenue came from selling vehicles and batteries. The company’s financial statements don’t specify any revenue specifically related to AI-enabled services.
Tesla shares jumped 12% in after-hours trading, following the company’s quarterly earnings release. It reported 72 cents in adjusted earnings per share on $2.51 billion of net income. That topped consensus analyst estimates that called for EPS of 59 cents and $2.01 billion onf net income, according to FactSet.
