Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla’s chief designer, recently expressed concern about Tesla’s cancellation of development of US$25,000 (Note: currently about 181,000 RMB). ) in response to rumors of cheap electric cars, echoing Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s previous denials.
Last week, Reuters reported, citing sources, that Tesla was canceling its planned $25,000 electric vehicle project. Elon Musk later flatly denied the report and said “Reuters is lying again.” Immediately afterwards, Tesla announced that it would release self-driving taxis on August 8 this year. The move sparked speculation among many shareholders and Tesla enthusiasts that self-driving taxis and cheap $25,000 electric cars could be built on the same platform. Elon Musk responded with just an “eyes” emoji, suggesting it might be a good idea.
Franz also responded to reports about cheap electric cars on Sunday, according to a video posted by YouTube user BLKMDL3. The video, taken during a panel discussion at the Petersen Automotive Museum, shows a reporter asking about progress on the $25,000 affordable electric car, whether it’s been canceled, delayed or has other plans.
While Franz’s response was less direct than Elon Musk’s, he was equally skeptical of the Reuters report. “Stay tuned,” Franz said. “Don’t always believe what you read.”
The Reuters report said it reviewed Tesla’s communications with suppliers about the project and cited a Tesla manager who said it explicitly mentioned plans to cancel the $25,000 electric car. The news comes as Tesla is rolling out its highly anticipated FSD v12 software to customers, which Elon Musk and other executives touted last year as a key part of a breakthrough in self-driving technology.
In addition to the FSD fleet passing one billion miles last week, the software has also been upgraded to “FSD (supervised)” from its previous “beta” version. Elon Musk has previously said that v12 will remove the “beta” label. A leaked Elon Musk email also requires Tesla employees to take FSD test drives when delivering vehicles, and Tesla is currently offering a one-month free trial of the software.
