It’s been a while since Tesla CEO Elon Musk had much to say about the car company or its plans. The lineup seemed to be on, erm, autopilot since the announcement that the Model S and X were dead as he was paying more attention to xAI and other projects. Now he’s back, and claims that the electric automaker will be making a new family model. Though the details are vague even by Musks’s standards.

Something ‘Way Cooler’ Is Coming, Musk Claims

Earlier this week, Elon made a post about the Cybertruck’s family friendliness. He pointed out that its rear bench had three sets of ISOFIX (LATCH for Americans) attachment points for car seats, letting it fit three children in the back seat.

One user demanded, in all caps, that Elon “make a minivan.” His reply was that “something way cooler than a minivan is coming.”

What’s way cooler than a minivan? Well, not much, if you ask us. And if you ask the growing number of buyers coming back to the practical and efficient segment, they’ll likely agree. We understand, though, that it’s still not everyone’s cup of tea.

More likely, he’s referring to some sort of three-row SUV. With the end of the Model X, Tesla doesn’t offer a real three-row model. Yes, the Model Y can be optioned with one, but it’s exceedingly tiny. Comparing it to a minivan would be a stretch, even for Musk.

Is It A Cybertruck SUV, Or A Minivan?

The backdrop of a video Tesla released last year has some clues as to what could be coming. Last September, Tesla revealed the Master Plan Part IV, the company’s roadmap for its next few years. It called the program “Sustainable Abundance.”

The focus is on a clay model of the company’s planned driverless taxi. In the background, on a shelf, sits at least one vehicle that appears to be a Cybertruck-styled three-row SUV. Although with the controveral truck’s angular styling, it looks strikingly like a van.

This model has the Cybertruck stainless steel body, but it doesn’t have a bed. Instead, the roof stays flat all the way to the back of the vehicle. The rear glass kicks up at the tail as well.

With Cybertruck sales falling off more quickly than the trim on early production vehicles, making an SUV based on the same shape would be bold even by Elon’s standards. Tesla had claimed 1 million reservations before the truck went on sale, but actual sales are believed to be well under 100,000 units since production finally started in 2023.

In the heydays of Tesla’s hype, a post from Musk about a new model would send stock prices soaring and capture hundreds of thousands of engagements on Twitter. Now, on X, this post garnered just 40,000 likes in two days. The stock has dropped since the announcement, down $20 to $365 a share, while it is down $72 so far this year. Times have definitely changed.

With the Roadster years behind schedule, the Cybertruck a disappointment, and both the robotaxis and full-self driving also well behind schedule, has Musk’s juice run dry? The executive has the opportunity to become the world’s first trillionaire if he succeeds in the ambitious targets set out in his recent record-smashing pay package, so expect him to continue squeezing for every possible ounce.

Whether anything comes out, however, is a different story.