Tesla to Build Self Driving Minibus with Model X chassis

Tesla Motors has announced that it will be building its new autonomous minibus using a Model X chassis, according to a recent tweet that the company’s CEO, Elon Musk made. The tweet was part of Tesla’s game plan named “Master Plan, Part Deux” to tackle the issue of public transportation.

He failed to pulge further details but did mention that the bus will likely hit the market next year and will have a surprisingly high people density potential. He also said that the Tesla Minibus will be built on a Model X chassis.

The Model X was Tesla’s first all electric SUV, which debuted in September 2015. The vehicle made instant impact due to its falcon wings and is available in four versions – P90D, 90D, 75D, and 60D. The Model X goes from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.2 seconds and comes with all-wheel drive and a 90 kWh battery that gives it 257 miles of range on a single charge. The 5-door SUV measures 5,029mm X 1,999mm X 1,684mm, with a wheelbase of 3,061 mm.

Tesla was recently in the news for opening a huge USD 5 billion gigafactory in Nevada, United States for the production of lithium ion batteries. With the establishment of this plant, the company hopes to reduce the cost of batteries by over 30 per cent by 2018. Tesla will need a large number of batteries in order to meet the demand for high number of orders that have been placed for the highly anticipated Tesla Model 3 sedan, which is expected to hit the retail scene by the end of 2018.