Biographer Walter Isaacson shared new details about Tesla’s next-generation electric vehicle platform in a book excerpt about Elon Musk.
In it, Isaacson details some of the information Elon Musk has documented, such as his vision for the next generation of electric vehicle (EV) platforms.
While Tesla announced earlier this year that it would consider building its next-generation electric vehicle platform at its yet-to-be-built Gigafactory in Mexico, Isaacson said Elon Musk has changed the initial construction location of the Robotaxi platform to the Gigafactory in Austin.
“Tesla’s engineering needs to come online to be successful, and getting everyone to move to Mexico is never going to happen,” Elon Musk said.
Tesla is supposed to build new-generation models at its future Gigafactory in Mexico, but design engineers will realize their desire to be closer to the assembly process at the Austin Gigafactory, allowing engineers to get immediate feedback without having to move to Mexico.
Earlier this year, Samuel García Sepúlveda, the governor of the Mexican state of Nuevo León, said the automaker would build a production line outside Monterrey to produce Teslas worth $25,000 compact car.
According to another report from Isaacson, Tesla’s upcoming Robotaxi EV platform is expected to be inspired by the Cybertruck and share the same architectural design as the previously rumored $25,000 model.
He believes that the two electric vehicles are expected to use similar designs and may even use the same assembly lines. Extrapolating from the Tesla Vision, a key difference between the two electric cars is that the Robotaxi may not necessarily include a steering wheel, while a passenger car will definitely have one.
Isaacson also shared details of an electric vehicle design review meeting held in February, when Tesla chief designer Franz von Holzhausen presented the design of the $25,000 model and the Robotaxi design, to which Elon Musk responded enthusiastically.
“When one of these cars goes around the corner, people will think they’re seeing something from the future,” Elon Musk told the conference.
Isaacson pointed out that Elon Musk is far more enthusiastic about the Robotaxi project than the $25,000 car, and he is very eager to redefine transportation through self-driving models.
