Claim:
In October 2024, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced the company would be releasing a motor home in 2025 priced at less than $17,000.
Rating:
False ( About this rating? )
In October 2024, social media users claimed Tesla CEO Elon Musk had announced that the electric car manufacturing company would be offering a motor home recreational vehicle (RV) in 2025 for less than $17,000.
One X post read ( archived ): "Elon Musk Reveals Tesla 2025 Motorhome for UNDER $17,000."
Examples of the rumor appeared on Facebook , Instagram , YouTube , and a Bangladeshi news website , while one TikTok video had amassed more than 3 million views and 130,000 likes as of this writing.
Numerous Snopes readers mailed us asking if it was true after one prominent example of the claim was posted on YouTube. It appeared to originate from a channel named Voyager, which uploaded a video on Oct. 11, 2024, titled: "Elon Musk Reveals Tesla 2025 Motorhome for UNDER $17,000."
During the footage, the narrator said: "Known for revolutionizing the auto industry, Tesla is now venturing into the world of affordable, eco-friendly living — on wheels."
The video's text description read:
Elon Musk has always been known for shaking up industries. From revolutionizing electric cars with Tesla to changing space exploration with SpaceX, he's consistently pushed the boundaries of innovation. Today, he's set to make another monumental announcement: the release of Tesla's $17,000 motorhome. This announcement comes at a time when the automotive and housing industries are experiencing significant shifts, driven by the need for more sustainable solutions. Musk has always had his finger on the pulse of what the future requires, and the Tesla motorhome is his answer to the growing desire for a more flexible, eco-friendly lifestyle.
However, this rumor was false. As of this writing, Musk had not made any public announcements about Tesla releasing a motor home or other type of RV in 2025.
On Oct. 11, the same day Voyager uploaded its video to YouTube, Tesla posted on X — the social media company also owned by Musk — mock-up images of its Robovan concept, but did not describe it as a motor home or recreational vehicle.
The description on Voyager's YouTube channel featured one line indicating some of its videos did not contain genuine content: " We blend speculative storytelling with scientific concepts, creating a thrilling journey into the unknown."
We have emailed the owners of the channel to ask about the footage and will update this story if we receive a response.
Voyager has posted numerous similar videos about a Tesla motor home , all at different price points. In other clips, the channel further falsely claimed that Musk bought McDonald's and had announced Tesla's upcoming releases of an airplane , bike , $10,000 home , jet and phone .
Many of the social media posts making the false claim also featured images or videos generated using artificial intelligence (AI).
Musk Talked Electric Vans for Camping in 2021
While Musk had not announced plans for a Tesla motor home or RV in October 2024, he had previously mentioned the future possibility of solar-powered vans. The discussion occurred during a February 2021 episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast with host Joe Rogan:
ROGAN: Now, I heard you talk recently about the possibility of a van, like, Sprinter van-style?
MUSK: Now, a van, because you got a big, flat area, that's actually where solar could start to make a little more sense, you know, because you could have a lot of area.
ROGAN: So, for the roof?
MUSK: Yeah. You could also have, maybe a roof where, it's solar, and then, when it's stationary...
ROGAN: Awnings?
MUSK: Yeah, it goes out and provides shade, and maybe triples your area or something like that. Now, if you go like, triple the area, and you got a big, flat surface, you could start having, maybe having charging enough where you start getting like 30 miles a day. That kind of thing.
ROGAN: That's interesting because there's a lot of people who use those for camping.
Moments later, Musk added: "Yeah, I think that would be great, you know. Like, you could have a van that just, you know, even if the apocalypse came around, you could still drive."
Note: The relevant part of the Spotify podcast episode begins at the 1:33:10 mark.
Sources:
"#1609 - Elon Musk." Spotify , The Joe Rogan Experience, 11 Feb. 2021, https://open.spotify.com/episode/2aB2swgyXqbFA06AxPlFmr .
H., Jason. "Tesla Semi Campervan Concept: Introducing the Vanlifer Semi-Home." Vanlifer , 27 July 2019, https://vanlifer.co.nz/blogs/news/tesla-semi-campervan-concept-introducing-the-vanlifer-semi-home .
Klender, Joey. "Elon Musk Says Tesla's Electric van Could Have Solar Panels." TESLARATI , 11 Feb. 2021, https://www.teslarati.com/elon-musk-electric-van-solar-panels/ .
Lambert, Fred. "Elon Musk Talks Tesla Electric van with Solar-Powered Deployable Roof." Electrek , 12 Feb. 2021, https://electrek.co/2021/02/11/elon-musk-tesla-electric-van-solar-powered-deployable-roof/ .
---. "Tesla Should Make This Electric Camper van Right Now." Electrek , 13 Aug. 2024, https://electrek.co/2024/08/13/tesla-electric-camper-van-renders/ .
"We Robot." Tesla, https://www.tesla.com/en_GB/we-robot . Accessed 28 Oct. 2024.
'X.Com'. X (Formerly Twitter), https://x.com/Tesla/status/1844584591408910512 . Accessed 28 Oct. 2024.
Local News