“Musk’s reputation for making splashy announcements might have set expectations a bit high for Teslaphiles, who are likely a bit disappointed at the company’s pared-back product road map,” said Jessica Caldwell, executive director of insights at Edmunds.
“It seems a bit uncharacteristic of Musk to choose a more pragmatic approach over an attention-grabbing one, but Musk’s decision to focus on the vehicles that Tesla is already producing makes sense. Demand for Tesla’s existing products remains high, and the microchip crunch and supply chain issues aren’t going away any time soon,” Caldwell said.
Musk also shot down near-term development of a $25,000 electric car, which he suggested during a “Battery Day” presentation in 2020. Musk had said the inexpensive EV could be ready by 2023. Musk is known for his optimistic timelines for future products, which are often delayed.
“We are not currently working on a $25,000 car,” Musk said last week in response to a question on the earnings call. “At some point we will. But we have enough on our plate right now — too much on our plate, frankly.”
He also suggested future robotaxis would be a better form of low-cost transportation.
Nevertheless, Tesla continues engineering and planning work on the Cybertruck, the Tesla Semi cargo truck, the long-delayed Roadster coupe and a Tesla robot called Optimus, Musk said.
“I think actually the most important product development we’re doing this year is actually the Optimus humanoid robot,” Musk said. “This, I think, has the potential to be more significant than the vehicle business over time.”
