Tesla took advantage of its third “Investor Day” to announce the upcoming arrival of two new models. We would have liked to know more about them…
Tesla events are always eagerly awaited, especially Investor Days. It must be said that it was during the two previous editions (which took place in 2006 and 2016) that the famous – but today relatively controversial – leader of the Californian manufacturer, Elon Musk, presented the objectives of the brand he leads for years to come.
For this new cuvée which took place on March 1 at the Gigafactory in Texas, he did not wait as long as before, only 7 years. Undeclared objective: to reassure investors after a complicated year 2022 where the Model 3 lost ground and where he was accused of not devoting too much time to Twitter, his new baby, not enough to Tesla. To seduce them, Elon Musk played it simpler than usual. : sober outfit (no cowboy hat in particular), no big show and a long, complete and complex presentation divided into 8 parts.
The program had been announced in advance: presentation of the new roadmap (“Master Plan” in the language of Shakespeare) but also of the third generation platform or even discussions on the actions which should, according to Elon Musk, lead us towards a “fully sustainable energy future”. An entire program ! Was it really worth the wait? Yes and no. Yes, because we know that Tesla will launch a fourth generation of chargers, open a new Gigafactory in Mexico or that it is working on two new vehicles (this is undoubtedly the biggest announcement of this “Investor Day”). And no, because we would have liked to know a little more about them, or even better, to discover them.
The Cybertruck confirmed for 2023, fragmentary information on the next models
Let’s start by mentioning the fact that the Cybertruck will land in 2023. Finally, it was time! Recall that it was presented in 2019 and was to go into production in 2021.
Two models will enter the Tesla range in the coming years.
Now, let’s move on to the two new features mentioned. One of them was not mentioned at all during the conference. This is the model shown above the Cybertruck in the photo above. What model could it be? Given its silhouette, we bet on the fact that it could well be the “robotaxi”… announced in the previous “Master Plan” in 2016. An autonomous mini-bus capable of accommodating many passengers.
The other car will have been a little more widely discussed without having been – unfortunately – presented. There is no longer any doubt that Tesla is preparing a model below the Model 3, the one everyone calls “Model 2” and that Elon Musk did not consider necessary in his previous “Master Plan”. Certainly, everything in the talk around this model revolves around cost reduction. Technically, the cost of ownership of this new model after 5 years of ownership should be lower than that of the Model 3. In the same vein, Tesla believes that the efforts made to design the new platform on which this model will rest have reduced the overall price by about $1,000 (about €937 at the current exchange rate).
What else do we know? Not much, his name has not been revealed. No sketches have been shared. Its technical characteristics? Again, little has been said. This future Tesla will adopt a 48V architecture (in order to reduce its weight in particular), its manufacture will not require the use of rare earths at all or its assembly has been revised to be 10% more efficient than Henry’s method. Ford used until then. And that’s all.
Could it be that hiding under this sheet the long-awaited “baby” Tesla, the one everyone calls the Model 2?
Words, words, words?
Distrust as always with Elon Musk’s announcements. Because the latter, often grandiloquent, are not always followed in practice. In his “Master Plan” number 2, he planned, for example, to cover a greater number of segments with new vehicles. Only 2 of the 3 models planned then (the Model 3, which was already known to everyone when the plan was presented, as well as the Model Y and the Cybertruck, which were unveiled for their part a little later) are actually products today. On the other hand, we are still awaiting the production version of the pick-up.
Another thing, he said he also wanted to address the business world with, on the one hand, an electric truck, the Semi, as well as an urban vehicle which could well be the second vehicle mentioned above. If so, we still don’t know more about him…
Finally, in the last two parts of his plan, Elon Musk said he wanted to create an application with which a fleet of autonomous Tesla would be self-service, accessible to everyone. Obviously, it was not followed in practice. Moreover, this subject was on the agenda of its third “Master Plan”. It is true that he can do nothing against the legislation (still not really in favor of autonomous cars) but will we have to wait for the 4th for this to materialize? All that remains is to wait and see.
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