Musk is announcing a new model for early 2025 that will use a mix of next-generation and current platforms.

“We have updated our future vehicle lineup to accelerate the introduction of new models ahead of our previously announced start of production in the second half of 2025,” was one of the key sentences that was part of Tesla’s presentation shared Tuesday ahead of its financial results.

Since a Reuters report a few weeks ago that Tesla had “backed off” on a long-awaited lower-priced model — something Elon quickly denied on the X — retail and institutional shareholders have been clamoring for more details about Tesla’s product roadmap for 2024 and beyond.

During an earnings conference call, Elon Musk reiterated that Tesla expects to launch its next model “in early 2025, if not late this year.”

“We have updated our future vehicle lineup to accelerate the launch of new models ahead of our previously mentioned start of production in the second half of 2025. So we expect it to be more like early 2025, if not late 2025.”

Amid concerns about a temporary halt in production to upgrade factories for these new models, Musk said Tesla will produce new models with some aspects from its next-generation platform and current models. This will reduce the number of changes needed on production lines and allow Tesla to not only ramp up production faster, but also get vehicles to market faster.

New Model Y Design

Tesla is clearly assuming its next-generation vehicle will be less “next-gen” than it initially envisioned, but in order to release a new vehicle by the end of 2024, that process would need to be well underway already. Tesla likely has a redesigned Model Y in mind, which will likely use many parts from the new Model 3. Earlier this year, Tesla said the redesigned Model Y wouldn’t be released this year, so it makes sense they’d want to speed up that production.

The Tesla CEO concluded by saying that these measures will allow Tesla to reach a production capacity of over 3 million units. Tesla produced 1.84 million vehicles in 2023. However, this year they are increasing production of the Cybertruck and introducing the new Model 3 to new markets.

And we believe that once we fully utilize our potential, we will be able to achieve a carrying capacity of over 3 million vehicles.

Tesla on Tuesday released financial results, followed by a conference call where the company announced its upcoming Robotaxi model and next-generation platform, saying the “purpose-built Robotaxi product will continue to deliver on our revolutionary boxless manufacturing strategy.”

Earlier in the day, Tesla announced a new Performance version of its Model 3 sedan, which will begin deliveries in the U.S. next month. The new version costs $45,490 (after the $7,500 federal EV tax credit) and can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 2.9 seconds.

Tesla recently made headlines by purchasing LiDAR sensors for about $2 million from Luminar, one of Tesla’s longtime suppliers. You’ve probably seen photos of Tesla’s Semi and various Tesla models, including the Model 3 and Model Y, equipped with roof-mounted LiDAR equipment. These cars drive around with the automaker’s license plates scanning streets and highways.

However, many people confuse Tesla’s purpose for purchasing LiDAR equipment with its use for FSD versus testing. So let’s take a look at what LiDAR is and why Tesla uses it in its fleet validation vehicles.

What is LiDAR?

LiDAR means Light Detection and Ranging – essentially using lasers to measure distances. A laser pulse is sent out and the time it takes to return is measured – providing extremely accurate distance measurements.

Some companies working on autonomous vehicles, including Waymo and BYD, are using LiDAR as part of their autonomous packages, but Tesla is one of the few notable companies that doesn’t. Even Rimac’s “Verne” Robotaxi — which uses autonomous-driving technology from Mobileye — also uses LiDAR.

While LiDAR can create incredibly accurate and high-quality 3D environments, it does have its drawbacks. Not only is LiDAR expensive and requires a lot of equipment strapped to the vehicle, it also can’t be used in bad weather and can have problems with interference if other strong light sources are present.

Why does Tesla use LiDAR technology?

During Autonomy Day 2019, Elon Musk mentioned that LiDAR is not the solution for autonomous cars – it’s just a crutch. That’s why Tesla hasn’t used LiDAR in any production autonomous driving software.

Instead, Tesla is using it exactly as it’s described — using it to gather real-world data. That data is then used to power Tesla’s Full Self Driving system — which helps confirm the accuracy of its vision-only system. LiDAR provides highly accurate measurements to help ensure that FSD’s perception of space is accurate — and it’s used by Tesla solely to ensure that its AI technology, the brains behind FSD, is able to accurately interpret depth based on visual data alone.

Tesla’s vision system has proven to be incredibly accurate, with the vision-only Autopark system able to park in narrower, tighter spaces faster than the previous version, which relied on ultrasonic sensors.

It is likely that Tesla will continue to purchase LiDAR systems and use them for validation in the future.

A Bloomberg report has revealed that Tesla will delay its much-anticipated Robotaxi 8/8 event by two months to October 2024.

While sources other than Bloomberg have not confirmed the report, Bloomberg has a positive track record of reporting on financial decisions. We’ll be sure to update this article if there’s confirmation of X from Elon Musk or another senior Tesla official.

Tesla shares fell nearly 8.5% on the day, ending a streak of two consecutive gains in the past two weeks. They closed at $241 yesterday after reaching a peak of $270 earlier in the day before the news broke.

Why the delay?

The delay—about two months—was communicated internally but not yet publicly announced. Bloomberg goes on to say that the design team was ordered to rework certain elements of the Cybercab, which necessitated the delay.

If Bloomberg’s report is correct, it looks like Tesla’s event will be largely focused on showing off the vehicle, rather than demonstrating how it will perform. Of course, it could still be either, but based on past events, Tesla has always shown off a vehicle years before it goes into production.

Rimac recently unveiled its version of a robotaxi called the Verne, and surprisingly, it could be considered a Tesla robotaxi. Many of the design cues in Rimac’s version are things we’ve seen or expect to see in Tesla’s autonomous taxi.

A recent Tesla patent revealed that the company intends to equip its robo-taxi with a sanitation system that will analyze and clean the vehicle’s interior, although the delay itself is likely more related to some physical feature than software.

Another element we know almost nothing about is how Tesla plans to charge these robotic taxis. Will they rely on an existing charging port and adopt a solution like the robot charging arm (video below) we saw almost eight years ago, or will wireless charging or a docking station eventually come to fruition?

While the delay in Tesla’s event appears to be related to the vehicle design itself, rather than further development of FSD, Tesla is wasting no time in getting FSD into the upcoming vehicle. Model 3 vehicles have already been spotted with robotaxi-like camera locations.

Is the delay accurate?

We suspect this delay may be true – Elon Musk typically looks into X within hours of a news story breaking, if it’s false, in order to debunk it, and he hasn’t done so yet.

Tesla has delayed several of its events in the past, and a delay of several months seems likely. We should hear from Musk himself soon on whether this report is accurate.