Tesla not working on its $25K electric car right now: Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has confirmed that its electric vehicle company is not working on its previously announced $25,000 electric car right now because it has "too much on its plate".

During Tesla's fourth-quarter earnings, Musk was asked by shareholders about the status of the $25,000 Tesla, the auto-tech website Electrek reported.

"Well, we are not currently working on the $25,000 car. At some point, we will, but we have enough on our plate right now, too much on our plate, frankly. So, at some point, there will be," Musk responded.

At Tesla Battery Day in 2020, CEO Elon Musk announced that Tesla will be making a $25,000 electric car.

He made it clear that this new price point is achieved through Tesla's new battery cell and battery manufacturing effort, which could reduce battery costs by over 50 per cent.

The $25,000 Tesla electric car, which is often referred to as the "Tesla Model 2", has been likened to a new electric hatchback that Tesla has been planning to produce at Gigafactory Shanghai in China and export globally.

In 2020, Tesla announced plans to establish a new R&D center in China to build "Chinese-style" electric car.

Tesla started taking design submissions for its Chinese-made small electric car that summer and started hiring for the programme shortly afterward.

At the time, the automaker also released this early design drawing of a small electric hatchback. It led many to think that it was the design direction and form factor that Tesla is going for in the upcoming electric vehicle.

--IANS

vc/svn/ksk/