Entry-level Tesla "Redwood" (Model 2?) production starts mid-2025 [report 1/24/24]

[Deleted member 4]

Exclusive: Tesla plans to build new electric vehicles in mid-2025
https://www.reuters.com/business/au...lectric-vehicles-mid-2025-sources-2024-01-24/

SAN FRANCISCO/DETROIT, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Tesla has told suppliers it wants to start production of a new mass market electric vehicle codenamed "Redwood" in mid-2025, according to four people familiar with the matter, with two of them describing the model as a compact crossover.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has long whetted fans' and investors' appetites for affordable electric vehicles and self-driving robotaxis that are expected to be made on next-generation, cheaper electric car platforms.

Those models, including an entry-level $25,000 car, would allow it to compete with cheaper gasoline-powered cars and a growing number of inexpensive EVs, such as those made by China's BYD. BYD overtook Tesla as the world's top EV maker in the final quarter of 2023.

Musk had first promised to build a $25,000 car in 2020, a plan he later shelved and then revived. Tesla's cheapest offering, the Model 3 sedan, currently has a starting price of $38,990 in the United States.

Musk said last year he was concerned about the impact of high interest rates on consumer demand for big-ticket items like cars.

Tesla sent "requests for quotes," or invitation for bids for the "Redwood" model, to suppliers last year, and forecast weekly production volume of 10,000 vehicles, two of the sources said.
Production would begin in June 2025, three of the sources said. All spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is confidential.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.

Timing of next-generation compact vehicles, was one of the most voted questions by investors to Tesla ahead of its quarterly results report on Wednesday afternoon, where it is expected to forecast a 21% rise in 2024 deliveries, well below the long-term annual target of 50% that Musk set about three years ago.

Musk said in May that Tesla was working on two new products, with the potential for combined sales of 5 million vehicles a year. "Both the design of the products and manufacturing techniques are head and shoulders above anything else that is present in the industry," he said at Tesla's annual shareholder meeting.

Tesla plans to make an inexpensive robotaxi and an entry-level, $25,000 electric car based on the same vehicle architecture, according to Walter Isaacson's biography of Musk released in September, which includes interviews with the CEO and executives.

Musk said in 2022 that Tesla would make a dedicated self-driving taxi with a futuristic look in 2024, after several misses at its goal of achieving full self-driving capability.
He and other Tesla executives laid out plans last March to halve the cost of its next-generation vehicles, but did not provide a timeframe for the launches.

 

[Ehninger1212]

soo... production will start in 2027.

 

[cvalue13]

Time to re-up these!

 

[Klaxon]

soo... production will start in 2027.

So optimistic?

2029 with regular delay

 

[cvalue13]

I think the next gen is actually surprisingly far along in dev

 

[WormtownKris]

I'm intrigued by the name, "Redwood".
They are obviously quite familiar with JB Straubel's battery materials company, Redwood Materials. And they still have an amicable relationship with JB.
It would seem an odd coincidence that they'd use that codename if they weren't in some way connected. Is RM supplying a new cathode for their "Model 2" batteries? (RM is located ~25 miles from the Nevada gigafactory, and they just announced that they are building a cathode facility that will supply 1 million EVs per year). ?

 

[WormtownKris]

The fact that they are reaching out to suppliers, and that this info leaked today, make me think that there's a greater than 0% chance that they announce something significant about the "Model 2" today at the conference call.

 

[wtibbit]

I think the next gen is actually surprisingly far along in dev

Do you think a full size SUV based on the Cybertruck will be developed?

 

[cvalue13]

Do you think a full size SUV based on the Cybertruck will be developed?

SUV/Van, etc

I think this is part of why the CT’s rear end castings are modular.

not to say that would seem to be just around the corner or anything

 

[Coolbreeze704]

SUV/Van, etc

I think this is part of why the CT’s rear end castings are modular.

not to say that would seem to be just around the corner or anything

Plus right hand or left hand drive. Steering wheel/pedals, no steering wheel and pedal. Beauty of unboxed!

Edit: Sorry, didn't read through. Remark I made was on next gen and not inline with your conversation. My bad.

 

[REM]

I sincerely hope they choose "Model 2" as the name. It just fits.

 

[Coolbreeze704]

Actually my first avatar here was the hammerhead eagle I thrust. Was thinking that would be a better name for the model 2

 

[kbolt]

The fact that they are reaching out to suppliers, and that this info leaked today, make me think that there's a greater than 0% chance that they announce something significant about the "Model 2" today at the conference call.

They don't make forward liking statements on these calls... But it would be nice

 

[IJNYamato]

I think the next gen is actually surprisingly far along in dev

It’s still funny to see the clown comments, though ?

 

[MEWoodsMFG]

soo... production will start in 2027.

"Two weeks"