Budget Tesla reportedly coming in 2023, may be fully autonomous

Tesla boss Elon Musk has reportedly offered new information on the company’s planned budget hatchback, which is now slated to enter production in 2023.

According to Twitter user Sawyer Merritt, Musk held an online, all-hands meeting last Friday. The CEO reportedly asked employees if they “want [the] car to come with a steering wheel and pedals,” alluding to Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ (FSD) technology.

Information around Tesla’s planned $US25,000 (AU$33,534) hatch has been sparse since its announcement at ‘Battery Day’ in September 2020.

Back then, Musk said new battery cell construction methods would drive production prices well below the US$35,000 (AU$47,036) Model 3 Standard Range. That car was pulled from Tesla’s line-up in late 2020, suggesting its planned robo-taxi fleet could instead use the upcoming hatchback.

Musk also indicated the car may not be called the Model 2, as had been widely suggested. He apparently told employees the Model 3 name was chosen simply to “troll” Ford, which own the rights to the ‘Model E’ name. No alternative name was floated.

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The new EV will likely be assembled in Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory. Speaking to Chinese media in February, Tesla China managing director Tom Zhu said he expected the car to be revealed this year — backing up earlier reports indicating it would be unveiled during November’s Guangzhou Auto Show.

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Tesla developers showcased self-driving technology at last month's AI Day

An enormous amount of work lies ahead of Tesla if it wants to deliver a self-driving car with no user steering or pedals by 2023. Such a lack of input would make for a Level 5 autonomous vehicle, which doesn't currently exist on the road yet. Furthermore, the company’s existing Autopilot functionality is currently under investigation following a number of serious crashes.