Elon Musk Hints at a Tesla Model 4 in Norway
He didn’t come out and mention it by name—but he might as well have.
The Tesla Model 3 is still a long ways from landing in dealerships, but that's not keeping famously future-minded Elon Musk from looking even further down the line. The Tesla CEO has already begun discussing plans for a fourth model—one that would be even more affordable than the $35,000 Model 3.
"There will be future cars that are even more affordable, down the road," Musk said at last week's Future Transport Solutions event in Oslo, Norway. This was the same talk where he announced his super-secret plans for a new type of bus-like vehicle that could largely eliminate urban traffic congestion.
"With something like the Model 3, it’s designed such that roughly half the people will be able to afford the car. Then, with fourth generation and smaller cars, we’ll ultimately be in the position where almost everyone can afford the car,” Musk said.
It's unlikely that the Model 4, as the Internet has rapidly dubbed the car, is anything more than a sketch in a Tesla design studio at this point. With around 400,000 pre-orders on the books for the Model 3 and a host of problems cropping up with the Model X, the car maker has its hands pretty full at the moment.
This fourth-generation car Musk is referring to should not be confused with the Model Y, the next vehicle expected out of Tesla's gates. As it will be built on the same platform as the Model 3, the Model Y would be considered a third-generation Tesla product. Assuming it ever arrives, that is. Tesla has been more or less mum on the subject since October of 2015.
But while the Twitter-happy CEO may be thinking about future hardware and pie-in-the-sky ideas, as is his habit, he hasn't lost sight of the car that's currently making him the darling of the automotive world. "I’m super excited about being able to produce a car that most people can afford," Musk said, referring to the Model 3.
You can see Musk discuss the fourth generation of cars starting around the 12:10 mark in the video below. Or, if you're really into Scandinavians talking about post-fossil fuel transportation, you can watch the whole thing.
