Elon Musk's secret project

[Axel]

I was reading this article and stumbled upon this little gem of a quote:

Musk added that Tesla has “a potential secret project that could advance that schedule, but I can’t talk about that because we don’t know if it will transpire.”

He was speaking about the planned sub-$30,000 vehicle scheduled for ~2016. I'm assuming it has to be some sort of new battery tech they're working on. Going out on a limb, I'd say it's new way to manufacture the battery cheaply, not Li-S. But I suppose it could be anything.

Any good speculation about what the secret project could be?

Edit: Original link. http://www.onpointradio.org/2009/09/teslas-elon-musk-on-a-sub-30000-electric-car

 

[Tdave]

Elon talks to much. It won't be a secret for long. Also, notice it says "potential" secret project. I'm guessing it was conceived within recent weeks, and is just talk at this point.

 

[Chris H.]

Axel, perhaps you could provide a link to the original article. Knowing when EM said this would be helpful.

 

[raymond]

Axel, perhaps you could provide a link to the original article. Knowing when EM said this would be helpful.

I'm no Axel bit still...

Tesla’s Elon Musk on a sub-$30,000 electric car | WBUR and NPR - On Point with Tom Ashbrook

The "when" would be last Thu Sep 24th between 11 AM and noon EDT.

 

[Axel]

Thanks raymond, I thought I had the original link in the first post, but I guess I missed it.

 

[Chris H.]

It could be a production deal with Daimler to ship gliders to the US, with Tesla adding the drive train in the US. Similar to the deal with Lotus for the Roadster.

I have no specific knowledge of this. I'm just suggesting a possibility.

 

[TEG]

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/electric-vehicles/1989-mercedes-blue-zero-e-cell.html

 

[Serge]

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/electric-vehicles/1989-mercedes-blue-zero-e-cell.html

According to the latest update on BlueZero concept

The three BlueZERO variants were developed on the basis of the unique sandwich-floor architecture known from the A-Class and B-Class. The key drive components are installed in the vehicle’s underbody in such a way that they take up little space, ensure a good center of gravity, and are maximally protected.

All three BlueZERO variants share key technological components and have identical designs and vehicle dimensions.

So Tesla could possibly work on pack integration for the whole platform using Li-Tec's (Mercedes-Evonik JV) cells. However, in that case they would be competing with JV's own offering. Unless CERIO®serve is a system developed by/licensed from Tesla Motors. Oh the possibilities ...