Elon Musk Accuses Reuters About Tesla Low-Cost Car Plan

Tesla CEO Elon Musk accused Reuters of lying after the news outlet reported on Friday that Tesla scrapped its plans to make low-cost electric vehicles and will focus on developing robo-taxis.

In a report published by Reuters, the news outlet cited three sources familiar with the news, saying Tesla was abandoning plans to produce the low-cost EV and was instead planning to manufacture self-driving robotaxis.

After the report was published, Tesla’s stock dropped by as much as 6.2% before it began to climb slightly toward its Friday opening price, just shy of $170 per share.

‘Reuters Is Lying’: Musk Hits Back At Report Claiming Tesla Is Canceling Plans To Make Low-Cost EVs https://t.co/RW2TgernRq pic.twitter.com/wYtMsz8u25

— Daily Wire News (@DailyWireNews) April 5, 2024

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Musk took to his X social media platform to debunk the report.

“Reuters is lying (again),” he wrote.

Hours later, Musk posted another tweet that said the Robotaxi will be unveiled on Aug. 8.

According to the New York Post, Musk told investors in January that Tesla planned to start production of an affordable EV model, which had been called the “Model 2,” and reportedly priced at $25,000 at its Austin, Texas, gigafactory in the second half of 2025. When discussing the affordable-car project with suppliers, Tesla called it NV91 internally and H422 externally.

According to Reuters, messages from the unnamed Tesla program manager to staffers referenced those code names when discussing the project’s alleged termination. One of those messages sent on March 1 said suppliers should halt all further activities related to H422/NV91.

In another message, the manager thanked engineering staffers for their efforts and urged them to document what they had learned.

“I’d like to thank everyone for all your hard work and dedication to pushing boundaries and executing the best design possible given the aggressive constraints we had to work within,” the message said. “We would not want all our hard work to go to waste, so we must tie things off and document things properly.”