A drone flyover may have just revealed the first real-world look at Tesla’s long-rumoured affordable electric vehicle, and the internet is already buzzing with speculation.
The footage, shared by a YouTube account named Met God in Wilderness, captures what appears to be a heavily disguised Tesla model zipping around the company’s Fremont test track in California. The video, which surfaced online earlier this week, has since been picked up by outlets, fuelling theories that this could be our first look at Tesla’s long-teased low-cost car.
The YouTube channel, known for regular drone flyovers of Tesla facilities, simply captioned the clip: “A disguised Tesla car testing on test track. We could be seeing the new low cost model.” The vehicle, decked out in black-and-white camouflage, can be seen accelerating and braking on the private track, shadowed at one point by a similarly disguised Cybertruck.
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While Teslarati speculated the prototype could be a new performance version of the Model Y, the vehicle’s noticeably compact proportions have led others to suggest it may be something else entirely — the long-awaited, more accessible Tesla model designed to compete at a lower price point.
From certain angles, the mysterious car even resembles an elongated Volkswagen Beetle, diverging from Tesla’s typical design language, which adds further intrigue.
The timing of the video lines up closely with details from Tesla’s own first-quarter 2025 earnings report, shared by InsideEVs, which noted production changes aimed at bringing new models to market. “During the switchover, we also prepared our factories for the launch of new models later this year,” the company stated, following a period of halted production to upgrade for the new Performance Model Y.
In the same report, Tesla highlighted the pressing need for affordability in the face of global economic uncertainty: “Given economic uncertainty resulting from changing trade policy, more affordable options are as critical as ever.”
Speaking during an investor call around the report, Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja confirmed that the company is actively working toward launching a cheaper model, reported by Futurisms’s The Byte, saying: “Production of the cheaper model — which may utilise design aspects of Model 3 and Model Y — is planned for June.”
However, industry watchers are taking that with a healthy dose of scepticism. Tesla CEO Elon Musk had previously mocked the idea of a $25,000 vehicle, despite having floated the concept multiple times over the years.
At this stage, no official specifications or release dates have been confirmed, and Tesla has yet to comment directly on the flyover footage. Still, if the drone did indeed capture the upcoming budget Tesla in action, it could mark a major turning point in EV accessibility — bringing Musk’s original promise of an affordable electric car one step closer to reality.