The biography of Elon Musk, written by the renowned Walter Isaacson, is leaving us valuable information about the magnate’s activities in the companies he leads. An excerpt from the book, obtained by Axiosreveals How the $25,000 Tesla Model 2 is coming together. It is the proposal with which Elon Musk seeks to expand electric mobility like never before.
Curiously, and unlike what we had understood, the Tesla Model 2 has not always been Elon Musk’s top priority. The biography states that the manager, a few years ago, began to dedicate more attention to another business: that of robotaxis.
Elon Musk believes that owners of Tesla vehicles could make money by renting them to other people. However, the plan also contemplates Tesla having its own huge fleet of robotaxis, which would allow them to maximize income.
That attractive market, according to the biography, caused Elon Musk to divert his attention from the Tesla Model 2. However, a group of executives from the automaker convinced him to move forward with the project without killing the robotaxis strategy.
Knowing Elon Musk’s attitudes, it can’t be easy to change his mind. But these people had the key to achieve it: present him with a design that would blow his mind.
The Tesla Model 2 and its possible inspiration in the Cybertruck
It is worth mentioning, at this point, that Elon Musk had given them a very clear order: the Tesla Model 2 must not have a steering wheel, pedals or mirrors. The commitment to the fully autonomous driving system (FSD) must be total.
The mandate caused some confusion among managers and engineers. Because? Because the FSD is not ready yet. Employees, in fact, warned Elon Musk that this could make it difficult for the car to circulate on the streets due to mobility regulations. However, the CEO didn’t care:
“No mirrors, no pedals, no steering wheel. I am the one who takes responsibility for this decision. I’m going to be very clear. This vehicle must be designed as a robotaxi. We are going to take that risk. It’s my fault if it gets screwed up. But we’re not going to design a kind of amphibious frog as if it were an intermediate car. We bet everything on autonomy.”
Elon Musk.
Despite his initial position, he finally they made him see reason. Elon Musk accepted that the design of the Tesla Model 2, or robotaxi, integrated a steering wheel, pedals and mirrors.
This is how Tesla engineers and designers got to work to develop a first proposal. In September of the previous year, they met with Elon Musk to show him the design of the Tesla Model 2. The director was amazed. Especially because It is inspired by the Tesla Cybertruckwhich will begin to be delivered this year.
“When people see one of these on the corner, they’ll think they’re seeing something from the future.”Musk said.
It is important to note that, last May, the company revealed the first image of the Tesla Model 2. Of course, very little can be seen. At the moment, it doesn’t seem to have the same straight lines and oblique angles as the Cybertruck. Of course, more than 6 months have passed since the aforementioned meeting, so they surely made several changes to the original design.
In an interview with the author of the biography, Elon Musk commented that This vehicle is essential for Tesla to become a company whose value exceeds one trillion dollars. If plans continue without obstacles in the way, the Tesla Model 2 could be presented next year.