Is Tesla building minibuses? Apparently, it is. The carmaker’s reps have been talking about it since 2016, when they first referred to it in the Tesla Master Plan Part 2. But never did anyone get up close and personal with it. Until now.
No test prototypes were caught by carpazzi. No info on it at all surfaced. No clue on what it might look like. Until now. A leaked video uploaded on Twitter shows what is allegedly a Tesla minibus prototype. The one who uploaded, Jacob Orth, a Las Vegas-based content creator, claims that they filmed the Tesla people-mover itself. "Secret Tesla van prototype designed for Elon Musk’s Vegas Loop," he claims.
The Tesla minibus is actually designed by Elon Musk’s The Boring Company, the one which has also built the test tunnel in downtown Los Angeles.
The vehicle displays the Tesla logo on the steering wheel. It doesn’t seem exactly new, nor high-tech, since it looks like just about any shuttle bus out there, so it is probably made specifically for local use. There is a large glazed area, and there are seats placed on both sides, facing the interior of the vehicle.
Photo: Tesla
Back in 2016, when we first heard of a possible Tesla minibus, The Boring Company revealed a van-like concept capable of carrying up to 12 passengers. The one showing up in the leaked video uploaded on Twitter seems to have the exact same number of seats ad advertised seven years ago for the minibus. The vehicle was supposed to help people commute in the Las Vegas Loop network. Tesla Model Ys and Model Xs currently operate inside the monorail tunnel.
Seven years ago, Elon Musk disclosed his plan to electrify both the heavy-duty trucks segment and the high passenger-density urban transport.
It worked with the trucks, and Tesla has the Semi electric freight carriers on the road since December 2022. But we are yet to see the minibus.
If the one in the video is indeed the real deal, it means that we are soon to see prototypes testing. When will production start? That is a tricky question, considering that time goes by differently for Elon Musk and his companies.
Tesla has been promising models that never came
Tesla has the S3XY lineup consisting of the Model S, Model 3, Model X, and Model Y. The Tesla Cybertruck is still in pre-production form, even though it was revealed almost four years ago.
The Tesla Roadster has been out of the limelight since Elon Musk's own previous-generation car was launched in space.
Elon Musk has also been talking about an entry-level compact car specifically designed for Europe, to be manufactured at Tesla’s factory in Germany. It’s been years since we first heard of it.
And the minibus Elon Musk promised seven years ago is also nowhere to be seen.
Leaked video of the secret Tesla van prototype designed for Elon Musk's Vegas Loop, from inside The Boring Company's Las Vegas headquarters pic.twitter.com/A3A3XJ0UTx
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