Illustrations of what appears to be a smaller hatchback have been spied in a video from Tesla, but is it the much-anticipated Model 2?
Design sketches have been teased during a corporate video from Tesla, leading some to wonder if they are previews of the company’s upcoming small electric car.
While its name has yet to be confirmed by Tesla, the vehicle widely referred to as the Model 2 could be the smaller hatchback seen in the images, shown briefly on screen during a 22-minute video.
The teasers come just days after a vehicle purporting to be a Model 2 surfaced out of China, but which was quickly dismissed as a hoax – with someone bolting off-the-shelf Tesla parts to a Mazda CX-30 wrapped in camouflage.
Engineering HQ Opening https://t.co/qyA5CpQvc9
— Tesla (@Tesla) February 23, 2023
Tesla has been promising a more affordable city car since September 2020, when CEO Elon Musk announced it was working on an electric car to be priced from $US25,000 ($AU36,700).
The sketches share a number of similarities with an early design released by the company when the entry-level model was announced in 2020 (below).
The US car-maker is known to be deliberate in its external communications, suggesting the images were placed in the video for people to find – and could be a ploy to help create public hype ahead of an event next week.
MORE: Tesla’s cheaper, smaller electric car one giant step closer to showrooms
Tesla has promised it will be unveiling its third-generation electric-vehicle platform at its upcoming Investor Day on 1 March 2023, which is expected to underpin the company’s new affordable vehicle.
It’s understood the platform will feature 4680-type battery cells, which are said to be more cost effective while also delivering greater driving range.
At the company’s Battery Day in 2020 – the same even where the $US25,000 car was announced – Mr Musk revealed the 4680 batteries, which were claimed to offer a 16 per cent increase to range, as well as significant improvements to energy density and power output.
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