The businessman teamed up with Marc Tarpenning to launch the firm in 2003 and was CEO until 2007, and he says current CEO Elon Musk should prioritise the "low-end" EV over its sci-fi-inspired pickup truck, Cybertruck, which costs between $81,895 and $101,985.

Eberhard told 'Bloomberg TV' at the HSBC Global Investment Summit: “I read recently that Tesla has decided not to pursue their Model 2, their low-end car, because they don’t think they can compete with the low-end Chinese cars.

“I think that’s a shame, they might want to rethink that. It seems like a better market than that gigantic truck they make.”

After Reuters reported last week that Tesla had ditched its plans to release the less expensive EV, Musk denied this to be the case.

He also claimed the Tesla Robotaxi will be unveiled on August 8.

The billionaire businessman previously declared that his EV firm was working to get more than a million "robotaxis" on the streets by 2020.

The ambitious prediction was made during an investors conference in Palo Alto, California, in 2019.

He said at the time: "I feel very confident predicting autonomous robotaxis for Tesla next year."

And now, Musk has said the Robotaxi will be revealed to the world this summer.

He wrote on X: "Tesla Robotaxi unveil on 8/8."

It was previously reported that drivers who own one of the auto company's cars will be a able to add their motor to an app similar to Uberm, which will enable them to send out cars to pick people up, with Tesla making 25 to 30 per cent from the revenue generated.

Musk said that drivers could earn up to $30,000 a year from the rides.

He stated that they "won't have regulatory approval everywhere," but said he's "confident we will have at least regulatory approval somewhere."

He didn't provide any further details on where the robotaxis will be made available.