According to reports from Reuters, Tesla is reportedly working on a totally new electric SUV, smaller and designed to cost less than the current models in the range. The project, explain four people familiar with the matter, would not be a simple variant of the Model 3 or Model Y, but a vehicle born from scratch. In recent weeks, the US company has reportedly contacted suppliers to discuss component specifications and details of the production process. Three of the sources point to China as the main production site, while a fourth adds that Tesla also aims to expand production in the USA and Europe.
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Tesla is working on a new electric SUV
From a size perspective, the compact SUV would have a length of about 4.28 meters, a value significantly lower than the Model Y. The new project fits into a particular strategic context: after Elon Musk’s decision two years ago to abandon an expected low-cost electric vehicle, Tesla reportedly chose to focus on robotaxis and humanoid robots. Now, the central question is whether a smaller SUV represents a “return” to traditional electric vehicles for the mass market, or if it integrates into Tesla’s vision oriented towards increasingly autonomous systems.
Production in China?
Such a model could, however, according to one source, serve both directions. Tesla, says the employee who knows the company’s product philosophy, aims for vehicles capable of autonomous driving but also maintaining the possibility of human driving, especially because the adoption of full autonomy takes time and it is not certain that all markets are ready, especially from a regulatory point of view. Meanwhile, some analysts predict a further decline in sales of traditional EVs. The project is still in an early stage, and there are no confirmations on the start of production.
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