The rumored $25,000 entry-level electric vehicle that’s being developed by Tesla will first be assembled in Austin, Texas, with the Mexico Gigafactory in line to pick up the manufacturing effort further down the line, CEO Elon Musk confirmed during an interview with teardown expert Sandy Munro on YouTube (embedded above).
The confirmation comes after several reports that said the smaller, more efficient EV would be made in Texas, Mexico, and even Germany. Now, the matter seems to be settled, and in the usual fashion, Musk turned on the hype machine, saying that it will blow people’s minds, one way or the other.
“We are working on a low-cost electric vehicle that will be made in really high volume,” Tesla’s CEO said. “We're quite far advanced in that work. I review the production line plans for that every week. I think that the revolution in manufacturing that will be represented by that car will blow people’s minds. It is not like any car production line that anyone's ever seen.” he added during the interview with Sandy Munro.
Gallery: $25,000 Tesla EV Rendering by Motor1.com
What does “quite far advanced mean?” We don’t know, but seeing how the first Cybertruck prototype was built in just 93 days after the design was approved, it’s not far-fetched to think that the $25,000 EV is closer than some might say.
According to Walter Isaacson’s biography of the outspoken CEO, models of both the entry-level EV and the so-called Tesla Robotaxi–which will supposedly share the same next-generation platform–were shown to Musk in February 2023.
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"Both had a Cybertruck futuristic feel. Musk loved the designs,” the book noted. "When one of these comes around a corner," Musk said, "people will think they are seeing something from the future."
As for the revolution in manufacturing, we’ll have to wait and see what Tesla has up its sleeve. This wouldn’t be the first time Musk said something to catch people’s attention. At the same time, the Austin-based EV maker also has a track record of making things better than expected and proving people wrong.