Tesla microbus to be built on Model X chassis

News
1 Aug 2016

A new Tesla microbus, which was first teased as part of CEO Elon Musks ‘Master Plan, Part Deux’, will be built on the Model X chassis.

Musk confirmed the plans in a tweet in response to an article by Jalopnik, which suggested that Tesla’s Model X platform could also be used for high-end modern microbuses, campers and multipurpose commercial vans.

When the master plan was first announced people speculated that the development of ‘buses’ would be more along the line of large commercial vehicles. However, Musk tweeted that the design of the Tesla bus would take inspiration from ‘some of the California Custom VW combi design art’.

This suggests the upcoming vehicle would be more in line with VW’s retro microbuses and the confirmation that it would use the same platform as the Model X suggests that it come into production sooner than initially thought.