Tesla might be busy trying to produce enough Model 3s, but Elon Musk is already planning the company’s next step towards transport domination. According to Musk, the electric car company is already working on a Model Y and it’s also planning to release a brand-new minibus.
The Model Y will be the last car from Tesla’s SEXY naming convention, with the Model S, Model 3 or E and Model X forming the rest of the range. When asked what the fourth mass-production car could be called, Elon Musk responded with the following: “I think we should be inconsistent in our naming conventions after Model Y.”
Alongside the new Model Y, which we think is going to be an SUV, Tesla is also working on a minibus – or, as Musk calls it, a “high-passenger-density urban transport” vehicle. For once Musk revealed the new info not on Twitter, but in a blog post called “Master Plan, Part Deux”. Musk also added that the car’s “people density potential is surprisingly high”. We know the new vehicle shares the same platform as the Model X, which suggests the new bus will have room for at least eight passengers.
A release date is harder to pin down, but we shouldn’t have to wait too long. Because the new bus will use the Model X chassis as a base, Tesla can use its existing supply chain, and it will probably fit the minibus out with the same tech and drivetrain options as the Model X, too.
Minibuses can be fun
Although it might seem odd, I find Tesla’s minibus an even more fascinating prospect than the Tesla Model X or the Model S. Rather than producing another fast, luxury car designed for private use, Tesla is starting to use its expertise for commercial and business vehicles; one place that Tesla and electric cars in general really haven’t cracked yet.
If Tesla is able to design an efficient minibus with a workable range, it will be embraced by businesses, and hugely help our transition into new forms of sustainable transport.
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