Rumours of Elon Musk’s Tesla company making a smartphone have been doing the rounds for a few years now – supposedly called the Model Pi.
There’s also the small matter of a different company that trades under the brand name Tesla already producing smartphones, albeit not with the kind of high-end specs that you’d expect from the developers of arguably the world’s most desirable electric vehicles.
So, is there any truth that Tesla Inc. will be adding mobile devices to its, well, larger mobile devices? Here’s all we know so far.
Has Tesla already launched a phone?
You may have seen plenty of videos on YouTube and TikTok recently of Tesla releasing a $100 phone that ‘broke the internet’, but there’s no evidence that these devices are real, and the likelihood is that it’s just clickbait from AI-powered sites trying to create some revenue.
It’s not a new thing, as you’ll see from searching for ‘Tesla phone’ on YouTube, which throws up plenty of ‘it’s just been released!’ style videos all talking about something that never happened. It’s fake news to put it simply.
A quick trip to the official Tesla website reveals no news about the mysterious phone, which doesn’t sound like the kind of marketing technique that we’d expect from the company. Nor anything from Elon himself on the huge social network he owns, X (formerly Twitter).
YouTube
There’s also a slew of recent reports of Tesla ‘confirming’ the imminent arrival of a phone, but again there’s no official word on this and the images used seem to be drawn from concepts posted by designers over the past few years.
As no mainstream, established tech site (including ourselves) is carrying the story, you can be certain it isn’t really a thing. At least, not yet.
X
Further confusion might come from the fact that there is a smartphone brand called Tesla that does make a couple of phones, alongside fridges, dishwashers, ovens, air conditioning units, TVs and other domestic tech.
The company isn’t pretending to be linked to Musk’s outfit though, as a quick look in the FAQs finds this answer to the question of whether it makes electric cars?
“Nope. That is Tesla Inc., which provides solar, energy storage, charging, and vehicles as part of its mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. We make and distribute consumer electronics products and household appliances inspired by Nikola Tesla’s idea to provide technology for all.”
What has Elon Musk said about Tesla making a phone?
Some of the speculation surrounding the Tesla phone rumours have come from comments Elon Musk has made on the subject.
Back in 2020, Musk said on X (formally Twitter) that smartphones were “yesterday’s technology.”
Instead, he pointed towards Neuralinks. This refers to the development of chips that can be implanted in the brain to then allow devices to be controlled by the electrical impulses created when we think.
One of Musk’s companies, Neuralink Corporation, is already heavily involved in developing this technology but it will probably be a long time before having yourself ‘chipped’ will be a real thing. Fortunately, Severance is still a fictional show.
Still, there is some reason to think that Musk is either developing a phone or considering it at least.
In the wake of speculation (started by Musk himself, it’s worth adding) that Apple was considering evicting the then Twitter from the App Store, the social network’s new owner did suggest that he would make his own phone, but only “if there is no other choice.”
In more recent comments by Musk, it has been reported by The Standard that while out on the political campaign for Trump, he spoke about his thoughts regarding Tesla and a phone.
“That’s a lot of work. The idea of making a phone makes me want to die,” Elon said. “But if we have to make a phone, we will, but we will aspire not to make a phone.”
Not exactly a ringing endorsement then.
This follows on from another quote mentioned in The Standard report which was given at a New York Times event in November 2023 where Musk said, “if there’s an essential need to make a phone, I’ll make a phone, but I’ve got a lot of fish to fry.”
These sentiments were repeated on a recent epsiode of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, where Musk commented that they didn’t want to make a phone but, “If Apple and Google Android started doing really bad things, like censoring apps or acting as gatekeepers in a harmful way, then I guess we’d make a phone.”
While it’s not beyond the realms of possibilities for Tesla to suddenly announce a handset, Elon Musk doesn’t seem that enthusiastic about driving up the marketing hype.
What features and specs could we see in the Tesla Model Pi?
Ok. Hold onto your hats for this.
With the Tesla ‘Model Pi’ being something of an urban legend at the moment, the rumour mill has gone into quite strange territory when it comes to the kind of features Tesla could introduce with its debut phone.
Design
Concept artist Antonio De Rosa has created some lovely images that show off the potential design choices Tesla could make, although of course this is entirely conceptual and not based on any hard schematic evidence.
Solar power
Probably the most realistic of all the rumours is that of Tesla incorporating solar panels into the device to allow recharging without the need for an electrical power source. This makes sense, as it would fit with the ecologically minded Tesla brand, while also making use of the solar technology already developed by the company.
Whether solar charging tech is ready to keep a phone topped up all day, especially when the phone itself spends most of its time in your pocket or bag, is another matter entirely of course.
There are also quite reasonable stories of the Model Pi integrating closely with Tesla cars, allowing greater control over settings and features when on the move.
Starlink support
Moving to the more fanciful, there are plenty of reports that the Model Pi will use the Starlink service provided by Musk’s SpaceX company. This is essentially satellite-based fast broadband that should provide coverage in many areas where 5G fears to tread.
Satellite connectivity began to appear back in mainstream phones like the iPhone 14 series, Huawei Mate 50 Pro and well as subsequent models, but the implementation has been basic, and primarily intended for simple emergency communications at times when regular signal is unavailable.
Fans are hoping that any Starlink integration would be more sophisticated.
Neuralink
Remember the Neuralink technology we mentioned earlier? Well, plenty of fans are hoping that the Model Pi will be compatible with the Brain-Machine-Interface (BMI) chips that would allow users to control their devices by thought.
While this sounds incredibly interesting, if trying to get Siri to call the right person or Alexa to select the correct music track is anything to go by, the idea of a mind-control phone could be the stuff of nightmares.
Mars Attacks!
Finally, the most bonkers of all the popular rumours we’ve seen is that the Starlink technology will allow the Model Pi to work on Mars. Yep, Mars.
Frankly, we’d be more impressed if Tesla could fix it so that we got a decent signal in the local coffee shop rather than on Olympus Mons. That would be a real breakthrough.
How much would the Tesla Model Pi cost?
That would be anyone’s guess. If it contains half the features speculated on by fans, there’s a good chance that it would be at the upper end of the market, but since there’s no real evidence of an actual phone, any price would be pure speculation.
You can ignore those YouTube videos saying it costs $100.
For more affordable devices that actually exist, be sure to check out our guide to the best phones available.
Author: Martyn Casserly, Contributor, Tech Advisor
Martyn has been involved with tech ever since the arrival of his ZX Spectrum back in the early 80s. He covers iOS, Android, Windows and macOS, writing tutorials, buying guides and reviews.