Tesla ‘Robovan’ for People and Cargo Hinted by Elon Musk

CleanShot 2022 07 07 at 08 33 15

Is Tesla going to make an electric van? That might be a possibility, teased Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Thursday morning.

“Maybe Tesla should make a highly configurable Robovan for people & cargo?”, asked Musk on Twitter.

When the Tesla Owners Silicon Valley account replied, “Definitely need something bigger than the X. Is this possible?”, Musk replied with a winking emoji, suggesting something was in works or it might be possible.

This is not the first time we’ve heard Musk talk about an electric van. Back in November 2018, Musk said, “Maybe interesting to work with Daimler/Mercedes on an electric Sprinter. That’s a great van. We will inquire.”

When asked if Tesla should make its own sprinter van, Musk replied “Ok”. He added, “Lot on our plate, so it’s either get van gliders (no battery, powertrain or compute tech) from Daimler & produce sooner or do all & produce later. Not a big difference to total vehicles produced either way. Priority list is Model Y, solar roof tiles, pickup, semi, Roadster.”

We know the Model Y is currently one of the most popular electric vehicles worldwide. Tesla has yet to produce its Semi, Roadster and of course, Cybertruck. With the current chip shortage and supply chain headwinds, an electric van seems many years away.

A lot of Tesla customers would like an electric vehicle larger than a Model X. The only option is the Cybertruck, which isn’t set to start production until late next year.

Volkswagen has its electric ID.Buzz van but it has yet to ramp up production, however pre-orders are available in select markets.

An electric sprinter van is available from Mercedes in the form of its eSprinter 2.0, currently available in Europe and coming to the U.S. and Canada in the latter half of 2023.

Musk later added an optional solar power canopy that extends both side of the van, might be an idea as well:

Would you be interested in an electric ‘robovan’ from Tesla?