AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)09/04 Report--

Tesla plans to launch an electric car worth only $25000 in 2023, the Model2, which may not be without a steering wheel, according to several media reports.

In fact, at Tesla Battery Day in 2018, Tesla CEO Musk said that he plans to launch an electric car priced at $25000 within three years, and by vertically integrating the production of more powerful batteries, the company can expand the range of electric vehicles and reduce costs.

The new $25000 electric car is often referred to as the "Model 2", but Musk has also said that he hates the name "Model 2", which means that the $25000 electric car may not be named "Model 2", but will return to the "Model+ letter".

It is no secret that Tesla will launch a lower-positioning model, and surprisingly, this model may not have a steering wheel. At the meeting, Musk linked the launch of Model 2 to Tesla's deployable fully autonomous driving system and asked employees, "do you want this car to have a steering wheel and pedals?" This seems to imply that the new car will not even have a steering wheel.

As early as 2019, Tesla released a picture of a car without a steering wheel and pedals and said the goal was to launch such a car within two years. At the meeting, Musk also said that the electric car, which costs $25000, will also be capable of self-driving.

It remains to be seen whether Tesla, who sells for $25000, has a steering wheel, but at least Tesla thinks so. If the car doesn't have a steering wheel, it means the electric car will be fully self-driving, symbolizing the highest level of self-driving.

From a certain point of view, cars with "autopilot" function can indeed bring a lot of convenience in daily driving and reduce the driving burden of drivers. However, for the time being. The safety and reliability of autopilot is not high, for some complex road conditions, the computer is not as comprehensive and thoughtful as the human brain. We have to admit that today's technology research and development has reached a certain height, but there are still many years to go before computers replace the human brain, and it is obviously not realistic to achieve fully autonomous driving in a few years.

In addition, Tesla's autopilot function has been criticized many times before. On August 16, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it would launch a formal investigation into Tesla's 11 previous traffic accidents caused by the use of autopilot assistance systems. A Florida police officer was hit by a Tesla car when he was parking on the road on Saturday. Fortunately, the police officer was not knocked down because he was helping a disabled driver outside the car.

NHTSA issued a "question letter" to Tesla on Sept. 1, questioning the safety of Tesla's autopilot technology. In the letter, NHTSA asked Tesla to provide the date and mileage of the "FSD" function for all its self-driving vehicles, including all customer complaints, accident reports and litigation information received by the system. At the same time, Tesla must provide information on the methods and technologies that the company uses to prevent the system from being used outside the design field.

It is understood that Tesla needs to reply to the relevant questions mentioned in the regulatory letter by October 22 and announce to the outside world details of any changes to Autopilot within the next 120 days. NHTSA even said that if Tesla fails to respond fully and solve these problems, she can face a fine of up to 115 million US dollars.

Welcome to subscribe to the WeChat public account "Automotive Industry Focus" to get the first-hand insider information on the automotive industry and talk about things in the automotive circle. Welcome to break the news! WeChat ID autoWechat