Tesla execs alarmed after Musk denied killing new EV project, Reuters reports

Some senior Tesla (TSLA) executives were surprised and concerned last year when CEO Elon Musk denied a Reuters report that the car maker had killed a planned $25,000 new electric vehicle that shareholders had expected to drive serious vehicle sales growth, Reuters’ Rachael Levy reports, citing people familiar with the matter. Musk said on X that Reuters was “lying,” though the executives in question knew that he had, in fact, canceled the all-new low-cost vehicle, which many investors were calling the Model 2, and pivoted Tesla to focus on driverless robotaxis, the author says. The social media posts was so confusing that some senior managers asked Musk whether he’d changed his mind on the vehicle, and in response Musk dismissed such concerns and said the project was still dead, the author says, citing people with knowledge of the matter.