Elon Musk mentions a potential Tesla electric bus in a new tweet that he later deleted – sparking discussions about the possibility of a new Tesla vehicle.
As we reported yesterday, The Boring Company applied for permits to start expanding its ‘Loop’ at the Las Vegas Convention Center to the rest of the city of Las Vegas.
The company already reported that it plans to use Tesla vehicles inside the system of tunnels to transport passengers at high-speed between stations.
However, the Boring Company keeps using images of a higher passenger density vehicle in renders for the project – leading some to believe that Tesla is building a new vehicle for the project.
This morning, Musk reiterated that the project will “basically” just consist of “Teslas in tunnels”:
When asked if they still had plans for a higher passenger density vehicle in a follow up tweet, Musk answered “we will make a dense Tesla if it matters” in a comment that he quickly deleted:
“We will make a dense Tesla if it matters. Maybe just better to have more tunnels though. There is no practical limit to tunnel count. Increased traffic due to “induced demand” is the second dumbest theory I’ve ever heard after homeopathy!”
This idea of a Tesla vehicle with a higher passenger density, basically a bus, has been mentioned several times by Musk in the past.
In the “Tesla Master Plan Part 2,” Musk talked about two new segments Tesla is looking to electrify:
In addition to consumer vehicles, there are two other types of electric vehicle needed: heavy-duty trucks and high passenger-density urban transport. Both are in the early stages of development at Tesla and should be ready for unveiling next year. We believe the Tesla Semi will deliver a substantial reduction in the cost of cargo transport, while increasing safety and making it really fun to operate.
Tesla did end up unveiling the Tesla Semi, the “heavy-duty truck,” but it never unveiled a vehicle for “high passenger-density urban transport.”
As we reported before, it is actually the only planned vehicle in Tesla’s masterplan that the automaker has yet to unveil.
Musk has also talked about Tesla making an electric minibus based on the Model X before, but it didn’t come to fruition.
The potential for Tesla to make such an electric vehicle came back into focus earlier this year after The Boring Company made a deal to build a Loop for the San Bernardino County.
When announcing the project, a county official mentioned that Tesla is developing “electric vans that can seat up to 12 people and their luggage” to use in the tunnels for the project.
Electrek’s Take
It’s unclear why he would delete the comment. Maybe he didn’t want to offend people who believe in homeopathy?
Unlikely. He has made far more inflammatory tweets previously.
Doesn’t want to get in trouble with the SEC over unconfirmed Tesla products on Twitter?
He did talk about a possible Tesla electric bus before so I wouldn’t think it would be an issue.
The whole situation is strange.
The San Bernardino County official was really clear in his comment, but that’s a single source outside of the company who didn’t even deal directly with Tesla but with the Boring Company instead.
On the other hand, the Boring Company has been indicating that it plans on using current Tesla vehicles in its tunnels.
What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.
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