After the challenging ramp of the original Tesla Roadster, the electric car maker opted for a clean-sheet design for its next vehicle, the Model S sedan. Through these efforts, the Tesla team was able to come up with a “skateboard” concept, which involved placing the battery pack at the floor of the vehicle and the electric motor between the rear wheels.
Tesla’s skateboard design became iconic, and it was only a matter of time before other carmakers from veterans like Audi and newcomers like Rivian were adopting the same concept for their respective EVs. Yet, if recent comments from the third-quarter earnings call are any indication, it appears that Tesla is now poised to abandon the skateboard that it practically pioneered in favor of the structural battery packs that were announced on Batter Day.
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