Tesla has notified suppliers that it intends to begin manufacturing a new mass-market electric car named “Redwood” in mid-2025, according to four people familiar with the topic, the Guardian reported.
Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, has long piqued fans’ and investors’ interest in affordable electric vehicles and self-driving robotaxis, which are likely to be built on next-generation, cheaper electric car platforms.
These models, including an entry-level USD 25,000 car, would enable it to compete with less-priced gasoline-powered vehicles and an increasing number of low-cost EVs, such as those manufactured by China’s BYD.
BYD overtook Tesla as the world’s top EV maker in the final quarter of 2023.
Musk had previously pledged to make a USD 25,000 automobile in 2020, which he then abandoned and then revived.
The Model 3 sedan, Tesla’s most affordable vehicle, presently starts at USD 38,990 in the United States.
Last year, Musk expressed concern about the impact of high interest rates on customer demand for large-ticket products such as cars.
Tesla submitted “requests for quotes,” or invitations for bids for the “Redwood” model, to suppliers last year, with a weekly production volume expectation of 10,000 vehicles, the report said.
It said that the production would begin in June 2025.
Musk said in May that Tesla was working on two new products, with the potential for combined sales of 5m 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.
