Tesla could be edging back towards a part of the EV market it once seemed ready to leave behind.
Reuters reported that the company is developing a smaller and cheaper electric SUV to sit below the Model Y.
According to the report, which cited four people familiar with the matter, the vehicle is not a pared-back Model 3 or Model Y, but a separate programme altogether.
Tesla’s cheaper-car story has zig-zagged. The latest account points not to the old US$25,000 (RM118,800) “Model 2” idea, but to a compact SUV shaped around lower cost and wider appeal.
The vehicle is expected to measure about 4.28m long, with China lined up as the likely first production base. The same report said the US and Europe could follow later if the project moves ahead.
The engineering work is fairly simple: smaller battery, one motor, less weight.
Reuters said Tesla is aiming for roughly 1.5 tonnes, against about two tonnes for a Model Y, with pricing meant to land well below the current entry Model 3. That sedan now starts at about US$34,000 (RM135,422) in China and around US$37,000 (RM148,000) in the US.
There is still plenty of distance between this and a showroom launch. The project remains in early development and it is not known if Tesla had formally signed it off for production.
Tesla had previously dropped its expected US$25,000 (RM99,575) entry-level EV and instead leaned harder into robotaxis.
The result, if it happens, would look less like a sudden U-turn than a hedge: a cheaper Tesla for ordinary buyers, but one that still leaves room for the company’s longer-term autonomy ambitions.
