Tesla has reportedly delayed the launch of its new “affordable EV,” which is believed to be a stripped-down Model Y, in the United States.

Last year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk made a pivotal decision that altered the automaker’s direction for the next few years.

The CEO canceled Tesla’s plan to build a cheaper new “$25,000 vehicle” on its next-generation “unboxed” vehicle platform to focus solely on the Robotaxi, utilizing the latest technology, and instead, Tesla plans to build more affordable EVs, though more expensive than previously announced, on its existing Model Y platform.

Musk has believed that Tesla is on the verge of solving self-driving technology for the last few years, and because of that, he believes that a $25,000 EV wouldn’t make sense, as self-driving ride-hailing fleets would take over the lower end of the car market.

However, he has been consistently wrong about Tesla solving self-driving, which he first said would happen in 2019.

In the meantime, Tesla’s sales have been decreasing and the automaker had to throttle down production at all its manufacturing facilities.

That’s why, instead of building new, more affordable EVs on new production lines, Musk decided to greenligh