Tesla Teases New Entry-Level EV – ‘Model 2’ Confirmed?

US EV giant Tesla has released a new teaser image of its next EV model. Previewed at the firm’s 2023 Investor’s Day, the new model teased here is expected to be Tesla’s newest entry-level model, dubbed as the ‘Model 2’.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, speaking during the firm's 2023 Investor's Day

Speaking during said event, Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed that the firm is currently developing “two new products”, with word around the campfire suggesting one of those being this new entry-level EV hatch. As for the other model, Autocar reported that said model will be a refreshed version of the Tesla Model 3.

Tesla Model 3 - one of the marque's best-selling model

With the Model 3 already being the marque’s most affordable model, this new ‘entry-level’ model is expected to follow or even surpass the Model 3’s sales figure, as Tesla projects to produce at least five million units annually. This also hints that Tesla is finally ready to become a high-volume EV manufacturer in order to meet surging demands for EVs globally.

Tesla Model S (right) & Model X (right) - two of the models axed from the RHD markets

This revelation came shortly after the firm axing the Model S and Model X in right-hand-drive (RHD) markets, citing that both mechanical and logistical complexities being the major reasons for such drastic decision. Additionally, both aforementioned models are far from being Tesla’s breadwinner, with only 71,177 units produced by the marque last year.

For context, Tesla has produced a total of 1,298,423 units of the Model 3s and Ys in the last year alone.

On the previous Tesla Investor’s Day, Musk presented the new production process and technical innovations that Tesla was planning, aside from teasing new EV architecture that these two new models will underpin. Tesla stakeholders, fans, and media representatives were expecting the CEO to unveil more about this new platform in this month’s Investor’s Day.

Musk instead outlined his vision for a cleaner global economy in this post-ICE age, where the boss predicted that the future electrified economy will hopefully require less mining of the precious metals. This has been the hot-topic for EV adoptions for years, with many environmentalists objecting to the global EV embrace.

The Tesla CEO also asserted his confidence in the firm’s decision to develop electric cars with  autonomous driving technologies. According to Musk: "All cars will go fully electric and autonomous. Driving a non-autonomous gasoline car is going to be an allegory for riding a horse and using a flip phone."

With Tesla already giving a slight tease on this new entry-level model, questions on whether the Tesla Cybertruck, Roadster Robotaxi, as well as Semi will finally go into production were also raised. For the record, it has been years since these models were announced by the automaker, and even within Tesla’s standards, these few years have been rather long ones, especially for the stakeholders and fans alike.