The so-called Tesla Model 2 may be the most hyped electric car that the world knows next to nothing about. Nobody is even sure that the new model is actually coming. But if it is, it'll be a huge deal. 

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has talked up the idea of a cheaper, entry-level Tesla since at least 2020. Such a model would open up a vast new market for the electric automaker and go a long way toward bringing affordable electric vehicles to the masses. But right now, pretty much everything about it is TBD. 

What Do We Know About The More Affordable Tesla?

For the longest time, Tesla investors and fans believed that a smaller, cheaper EV than the Model 3 sedan would be the automaker's next act after the Cybertruck pickup. Musk and other Tesla executives spoke of a lower-cost "next-generation" vehicle during earnings calls and presentations. The Tesla fandom even made up a name for the new car. "Model 2" isn't official.

An April Reuters story cast a cloud of uncertainty over those plans by claiming that Tesla had scrapped plans for a cheaper model. (Musk denied the claims.) 

Musk opened up Tesla's next earnings call in April with a curveball: He said Tesla would accelerate the release of new models. 

"These new vehicles, including more affordable models, will utilize aspects of the next-generation platform as well as aspects of our current platforms, and will be able to be produced on the same manufacturing lines as our current vehicle line-up," Tesla's first-quarter earnings release said. 

So, for now, it looks like a new entry-level Tesla is in the works in some form or another. It just will rely on Tesla's current technology instead of using the brand-new EV platform that the company had advertised was coming for years.