Tesla reportedly developing new smaller, cheaper EV after killing Model 2

https://electrek.co/2026/04/09/tesla-reportedly-developing-new-smaller-cheaper-ev-after-killing-model-2/

by jethronethro • 3 months ago

55 39 3 months ago

BonoboIO• 3 months ago

Yeah … vapoware like the roadster.

Morromist2• 3 months ago

I wouldn't be too shocked if they're real. They aren't going to be making humanoid robots that actually are useful and don't price 99% of people out of buying them and they have to come out with something new eventually.

And they can copy a lot of features from the better, cheaper chinese cars and just sell them for 3x as much in the american market because they have no competition here and the chinese are barred from selling their cars here.

Still, even if the are real it doesn't mean their company should be valued at 21x Ford's value, or even 1x Ford's.

FireBeyond• 3 months ago

I'd say they're as real as the $35K Cybertruck Musk promised us (not that many of us wanted it).

cyanydeez• 3 months ago

Tesla is basically proof positive that the market, oligarchy and fund managers are all in the Epstein-sphere of influence. No rational market would suffer the type of business management and products that Tesla produces.

quantified2• 3 months ago

You're forgetting a fan base. It's in the same category as a meme stock or NFT back in the day. Same way that haters gonna hate, believers gonna believe, and sometimes attack those who question/threaten their worldview. The boosters boost because they BELIEVE.

jfengel• 3 months ago

I don't think the comparison is entirely fair. There was never anything to NFTs. It was always a scam.

Tesla builds actual cars. For a while, these cars were innovative, and the best of their class. Their price was based on a wildly optimistic version of what they could become, but at least it had some nonzero value.

It's true that they've stopped innovating and have fallen behind, so that "optimism" has turned in the direction of "pure delusion". But I still think it's unfair to compare it to something that never demonstrated any value of any kind.

cbeach• 3 months ago

Your comment has more than a whiff of “never driven a Tesla”

AngryData• 3 months ago

To me it is just proof that modern capitalist markets are inherently flawed in serious ways that nobody wants to admit. Everyone goes on and on about market efficiency and liquidity and capitalism doing some sort of self-balancing act, but it repeatedly fails over and over again on both individual and larger group scales. It just seems closer and closer to simple gambling, using the wealth and capital of large masses of society, but with the potential winnings mostly just going to a small few.

tapoxi2• 3 months ago

It's a shame what happened to this company. I used to really want a Tesla, but now the brand signifies your support for Musk/DOGE, they killed half their lineup, and they keep mentioning that cars aren't the future as they aim for driverless taxis and robots.

At least they opened the supercharger network. My mom picked up a Cadillac Optiq and even with her being on the other side of the country she was able to seamlessly transition to an EV.

verdverm2• 3 months ago

I was able to drive across the US in the winter in an Ioniq 6 without using Tesla chargers. All but a couple were 350V, WY was the worst state (NY->WA), battery conditioning had charges ~200V for the first phase until charge levels became the dominant factor.

Ionna is 8 automakers building an alternative network

https://www.ionna.com/founding-partners/

Hyundai has their EV platform which has been 800V for a couple of years, future proof for the lifetime of the car considering how slow EV rollout is in the US...

Toutouxc3• 3 months ago

All but a couple were 350V, WY was the worst state (NY->WA), battery conditioning had charges ~200V for the first phase until charge levels became the dominant factor.

Sorry but what? I can maybe understand “V” instead of “kW” (why?), but what does the second part mean?

tapoxi2• 3 months ago

Yeah I've had an ID4 for a few years and its certainly possible, but seemingly overnight the charging network doubled and its a net win for everyone.

Also, my mom is in her 70s, those CCS plugs are huge! I'm glad everyone was able to standardize on NACS.

gramie• 3 months ago

That sounds wonderful. Our experience with an Ioniq 6 has been less spectacular. First of all, in winter the range drops from 520km to about 350km, and charging takes about 50% longer.

Then when we took a long trip we only found one or two charging stations faster than 10kW every 300km. Many of the chargers were not functioning, some were on private property (e.g. car dealerships) and closed on Sundays, and none of them were rated at more than 100kW (and typically charging at about 70kW). The ones that were 100kW often had one or more cars waiting for them, so our 90-minute charge could have taken double that.

The only exception was a Tesla supercharger station, but my wife refuses to support Elon Musk in any way, so that was out.

This is in Southern Ontario, outside the Greater Toronto Area.

4ndrewl• 3 months ago

It'll be a case study in years to come.

Dually turning the brand toxic to your core customers, and having a bonfire of a strategy around products.

burnt-resistor2• 3 months ago

Absolutely waste but with insufficient accountability. I don't understand how or why shareholders haven't sued him into penury. Taking political positions as a business figure is inherently fraught with risk, but then taking extreme political positions, openly flaunting drug use, and suggesting human decency is weakness is bloody weird and insane that will only lead to hubris. I don't want to know a CEO's religion or politics because these should be private matters.

the_biot• 3 months ago

Because while Musk is certainly running Tesla into the ground, without him it would sink even faster. Without his hype jacking up the share price, it's just a carmaker with 2.5 models, cratering sales, fast obsoleting tech, and no new models in the near pipeline.

All the shareholders can do is hang on to the ride for as long as they can.

Zigurd2• 3 months ago

That salute was too much even for the AfD. That it's not obvious to every American is an indicator of just how thoroughly boiled are we frogs.

dzhiurgis2• 3 months ago

I finally test drove friends BYD Sealion 7. Yes interior is very nice, soft materials, etc (to a point where it almost feels tacky). Drive felt much softer than my mid-gen Model Y (almost too boaty and rolly but thats is completely fine for a family car).

The software is not great tho, really misses the point and I can see why people hate touchscreens. No single pedal driving (idk perhaps they haven't enabled it), no phone as key, no profiles, engine start/stop button.

Overall I'd say people are sold on features without looking in depth what you get with Tesla. And Tesla still outselling any other brand here in NZ.

Hope I can try out Zeekr 7x performance in couple of weeks. I heard a lot of good things about it.

andrecarini• 3 months ago

My impression as a driver-in-training is that people are too complacent and forget they are handling a machine that could at any moment kill and maim you, your loved ones and random innocent bystanders. I wish we all were more responsible about it, and I hate the Tesla philosophy of going the opposite way (the touchscreen, the sorta there but not really autopilot, etc)

Toutouxc3• 3 months ago

That’s also my impression (experienced and competent driver). The other day I saw a video of someone testing Tesla FSD in Prague (where I live), the person was praising it for dealing with various situations quickly and with confidence, while I, a local, was basically cowering non-stop in front of the screen. There was certainly a lot of YOLO energy.

estimator7292• 3 months ago

The prevailing attitude in America is that as long as you are safe and comfortable in your gargantuan car, killing pedestrians and other drivers doesn't matter. Everyone else is beneath your contempt and if someone gets hurt or killed due to your recklessness, they deserve it.

dzhiurgis2• 3 months ago

Every new car has autopilot now, whats your point?

xnx• 3 months ago

Original source: https://finance.yahoo.com/sectors/technology/articles/exclus...

ramesh31• 3 months ago

It will still be $30k+ out the door, guaranteed. There's zero interest in making an actual affordable car when their margins are so high at that level.

jerlam• 3 months ago

There are a lot of new $30K EVs on the market right now, as manufacturers have added a lot of incentives since the EV rebate expired. And a lot of slightly used EVs are coming off lease this year.

Tesla is going to struggle since their brand no longer has any cachet and people aren't interested in subscribing to a kinda-self driving feature.

mullingitover• 3 months ago

It's not that it doesn't have cachet, it has anti-cachet.

People of Musk's exact political stripe absolutely are not impressed if you drive a Tesla, and everyone else, at minimum, is silently counting it as a character flaw and judgment problem.

To top it off, they're not the latest or the greatest EVs available and it's common knowledge at this point. The two metrics that they maximize, range and 0-60, are not really a big factor in day-to-day ownership in the way that a smooth ride and build quality are.

znkynz• 3 months ago

Will be eaten alive by the chinese competitiors at that ridicilous price point.

devonnull• 3 months ago

File this under I'll believe it when I see it.

microtherion• 3 months ago

Quarterly earnings will be released April 22. My impression is that in recent years, such rumors tended to cluster around earnings reports (which largely haven't been great the last 2 years or so), presumably as distractions.

bdangubic• 3 months ago

They don’t really need this though, every TSLA investor already louds that TSLA is not a car company - I think now it is no longer “Robo”taxi company either but humanoids-data-center-on-Jupiter-moon-mining company. Hence, absolutely no need for any EV announcements :)

klooney• 3 months ago

I saw a Cybercab on the 280 today, it looked kind of cool but kind of weird, too. I wonder if it'll be the same thing physically.

Zigurd2• 3 months ago

Given a last-minute announcement of a new vehicle in a crisis situation, that vehicle can't be too different from what already exists.

Tesla reportedly developing new smaller, cheaper EV after killing Model 2

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