Why are we talking about Tesla's phantom phone again?

Called the Tesla Model Pi, Elon Musk and co's smartphone is said to be on the verge of launch. But things aren't quite working out that way.

Photo by: InsideEVs

By: Riccardo Ciriaco

Published by: Brian Potter

Dec 26, 2024 at 3:59am ET

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The rumours have gone on for years, despite successive denials. But now, perhaps in the throes of pre-Christmas euphoria, the Tesla Phone rumour mill is making a comeback on the web. According to aficionados, the company's next baby even has a name: the Model Pi.

Let's get one thing straight. Elon Musk and co. are not designing a smartphone. The question is: why are they talking about it again? Let's have a look.

Only in emergencies

In the past, the CEO hasn't ruled out any speculation, providing encouragement to fans of the brand: "It's not to be ruled out", he was quoted as saying on X at the time . The latest statement on the imaginary Tesla Phone, however, came from the boss himself at the beginning of November. Speaking on the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast, the company's number 1 explained that a Tesla Phone was not one of his current projects.

"Tesla would be better placed to create a phone different from Android and the iPhone than any other company in the world. But it's not a product we want to develop, barring constraints or something like that."

"If Apple and Google/Android started doing really bad things, like censoring apps or acting as 'gatekeepers' in a bad way, then I guess we'd produce a phone."

In short, a 'made by Musk' mobile phone would only see the light of day in a Twitter-like operation, which led the supermanager to buy the social network (renaming it X) purely because, in his words, "it's important to have a common digital public place, where a wide range of views can be discussed in a healthy way, without resorting to violence", given that today there would be "a great danger of social media splitting into far-right or far-left sounding boards, generating even more hatred and dividing our society".

This is the Tesla Model Pi

But the CEO's words weren't enough, because in the last few days, the Tesla Model Pi has been the subject of renewed discussion. The excitement is likely to be reignited by a foreign Facebook account that writes:

"Elon Musk is expected to launch the Tesla (Model, ed.) Pi Phone, a revolutionary device that could challenge the iPhone's dominance of the market. What do you think?"

However, there is no reference to sources or statements. We therefore believe that the author of the post was referring to the CEO's public appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, where - as noted, Musk pretty much shut the door on the phone. Tesla Owners Italy also reports a hoax: "Tesla Phone? Another fake news!"

What do you think?

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So no Tesla Phone, at least for now. After all, Elon Musk has got us used to going against the grain, so why should an electric car maker produce a smartphone when so many smartphone makers are also becoming electric car makers?

From Huawei to Xiaomi, via Google/Waymo and Apple (which has since abandoned the project), there are several electronics giants getting into the four-wheeled business. But Tesla is already in the game and, for the moment, it's happy with that.

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