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UPDATE: Tesla Model Q is reportedly coming in first half 2025: Here’s what it will cost

Credit: Tine Rusc

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Update 7:37 p.m. ET: The Wall Street Journal’s Becky Peterson reports having a copy of Deutsche Bank’s report. Here’s what she said:

I got a copy of the Deutsche Bank report. Here’s what it does say: 1. Travis Axelrod met with DB for its Autonomous Driving Day on December 5 in NYC. 2. DB describes “the new Tesla model” which it calls “Model Q”. 3. DB says it will launch in the first half of 2025, and will cost less than $30k with subsidies, or $37,499 if Trump cancels the IRA tax credit. 4. DB says it will be built on Tesla’s existing lines.

The report doesn’t say anything about Redwood, the internal code name for a mass market vehicle, built on a new platform, which Musk paused earlier this year. It also doesn’t say anything about the size or cost, or how it might differ from a Model 3.

A couple of more points of context: Tesla told investors on its Q3 earnings call that its plans to deliver a more affordable model in H1 2025. They said that to do that it will lower the price of its current line up and then eventually sell robotaxis. When asked about a non-robotaxi, $25,000 car Musk said: ‘We’re not making a non-robo…’”

We can encapsulate that the Model Q is Deutsche Bank’s name for the vehicle, not Tesla’s. Model Q is still a label used by those outside of Tesla.

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Paragraph 5 has also been updated for accuracy as Tesla China has now appeared to have commented on the Model Q report.



 Tesla is reportedly planning to launch the affordable Model Q in the first half of next year, a massive development to the company’s plans as it aims to offer a cheaper car that will help expand its annual growth rate.

One of Tesla’s plans moving past 2024 was to launch a new platform that will enable more cost-effective models, bringing the vehicles to a new demographic and perhaps expanding sales for years to come.

Rumors of the Model Q, Model 2, and others have floated around the community for a very long time, but now it seems we have some substance with a new report out of China.

According to a report from Globalchinaev, Tesla announced during an investor meeting with Deutsche Bank that it has plans to launch the Model Q for less than $30,000, aiming to compete with vehicles like the BYD Dolphin and Volkswagen ID.3.

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Earlier today, Tesla China said it had “no information to share about the Model Q,” via MKTnews.net.

Tesla said early this year that investors should expect a lower growth rate in 2024 because of the company’s focus on the next-generation platform that would bring more affordable vehicles.

Tesla’s next-generation platform could mean ‘notably’ lower growth rate in 2024

It also said on more than one occasion that it plans to bring affordable models to market in the first half of 2025.

Both of these things would align with the report, which details the vehicle as part of the rumored “Project Redwood” that we reported on during January of this year.

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The report says the vehicle will be 15 percent smaller and 30 percent lighter than the Model 3, bringing a more compact vehicle to the Tesla lineup. With Tesla also focusing on the Robotaxi and its Full Self-Driving efforts, this vehicle will likely be as minimalist as possible.

It will feature a steering wheel and pedals for the time being, but will be geared toward autonomous driving functionality.

Need some awesome accessories for your Tesla in time for the Holidays? Check out the Teslarati Marketplace:

Please email me with questions and comments at joey@teslarati.com. I’d love to chat! You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Elon Musk says Tesla will take Safety Drivers out of Robotaxi: here’s when

“The safety driver is just there for the first few months to be extra safe. Should be no safety driver by end of year.”

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Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer | X

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said today that the company plans to completely eliminate Safety Drivers from its Robotaxi fleet, which differs from the Safety Monitors it uses.

Tesla’s Robotaxi platform utilizes employees in the front passenger seat during city rides in Austin and the driver’s seat of the vehicles during highway operations in Austin, as well as during all rides in the Bay Area.

Tesla adjusts Robotaxi safety monitor strategy in Austin with new service area

Musk said the presence of a Safety Driver “is just there for the first few months to be extra safe,” but there are plans to remove them in an effort to remove the crutches the company uses during the early stages of Robotaxi.

The CEO then outlined a timeframe for when it would remove the presence of an employee in the driver’s seat in both Austin and the Bay Area. He said there “should be no safety driver by end of year.”

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Having a Safety Driver or Monitor has been a major point of criticism from Robotaxi skeptics and Tesla critics.

However, Tesla has maintained that its priority in the early stages is the safety of riders, which will keep things running; even a single negative incident could derail self-driving efforts as a whole, including those outside of the company.

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Tesla executives have said their attitude toward safety is “paranoid,” but for good reason: an accident could set back the progress that it and many other companies, including rivals like Waymo, have made in the past few years.

For now, it might be a point of criticism for some, but it’s smart in the near term. Musk plans for Tesla to have Robotaxi operating for half of the U.S. population by the end of the year as well, so it will be interesting to see if it can maintain these timelines.

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Tesla is already giving Robotaxi privileges hours after opening public app

This morning, Tesla launched the app in the Apple Store, giving iOS users the ability to download and join a waitlist in hopes of gaining access.

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tesla robotaxi app on phone
Credit: Tesla

Tesla is already giving Robotaxi privileges to those who downloaded the app and joined its waitlist just hours after it launched in the United States.

As the Robotaxi platform has been operating in Austin for several months, Tesla is now allowing the general public to download its app and call for a driverless ride in the city.

Tesla Robotaxi makes major expansion with official public app launch

The company previously sent invitations to select media outlets and Tesla influencers, seeking initial feedback on the performance of the Robotaxi platform.

There have been positive reviews, but, as with any Beta program, some mishaps have also occurred, although none have been significant.

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As of the writing of this article, the City of Austin only lists one incident involving a Tesla Robotaxi, noting it as a “Safety Concern,” but not an accident or collision.

This morning, Tesla launched the app in the Apple Store, giving iOS users the ability to download and join a waitlist in hopes of gaining access.

Tesla is already granting Robotaxi access to several of those who have downloaded the app and gotten on the waitlist early:

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With the launch of the public app, we were not too sure how soon Tesla would be able to initiate bringing more riders into the Robotaxi program. The immediate admittance for some riders just hours after the launch is a big positive and is surely a sign of strength for Tesla and its Robotaxi program.

What many will look for moving forward is the expansion of the geofence, which does not seem like a problem, as Tesla has already managed to do this on three occasions. The most recent expansion has expanded the service area to approximately 190 square miles.

People will also look for evidence of fleet expansion, a concern that has been a concern for many, especially since Tesla has not been completely transparent about it. They have revealed a recent service fleet growth of 50 percent, but there has been no specific number of vehicles mentioned.

Tesla reveals it has expanded its Robotaxi fleet in Austin

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Tesla explains why Robotaxis now have safety monitors in the driver’s seat

The update to Austin’s safety monitors became a point of interest among Tesla watchers on social media.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has provided an explanation about the presence of safety monitors in the driver’s seat of its autonomous Robotaxi units.

The autonomous ride-hailing service is currently being deployed in Austin and the Bay Area, with more cities across the United States expected to gain access to the service later this year.

Safety Monitors

When Tesla launched its initial Robotaxi program in Austin, the company made headlines for operating vehicles without a human in the driver’s seat. Even with this setup, however, Tesla still had safety monitors in the passenger seat of the Robotaxis. The safety monitors, which do not interact with passengers, have been observed to report issues and other behaviors from the autonomous vehicles in real time. 

Safety monitors on the driver’s seat were also employed in the service’s Bay Area rollout, though numerous members of the EV community speculated that this was likely done to meet regulations in California. However, with the expansion of the Austin geofence, riders in Tesla’s Robotaxis observed that the safety monitors in the city have been moved to the driver’s seat as well.

Tesla’s explanation

The update to Austin’s safety monitors became a point of interest among Tesla watchers on social media. Longtime FSD tester Whole Mars Catalog, for one, speculated that the move might be due to Texas’ new regulations for autonomous vehicles, which took effect recently. Interestingly enough, the official Tesla Robotaxi account on X responded to the FSD tester, providing an explanation behind the safety monitor’s move to the driver’s seat. 

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“Safety monitors are only in the driver’s seat for trips that involve highway driving, as a self-imposed cautious first step toward expanding to highways,” the Tesla Robotaxi account noted.

Tesla has been extremely cautious with its autonomous driving program, particularly with the rollout of its Robotaxi service, which use Unsupervised FSD. This is quite understandable considering the negative media slant that Tesla is consistently subjected to, which could very well result in minute incidents or mistakes by Robotaxis being blown out of proportion.

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