Musk ready to “unveil the D” and another surprise next week – what will it be?

Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk loves making bold statements and knows how to play the crowd. The charismatic entrepreneur is also active on social media; Musk has more than 1 million Twitter followers, and he is known to keep them entertained with SpaceX updates and the occasional Tesla-related hints. Last night Musk took to Twitter to crank up the hype machine for whatever big reveal the automaker has in store.

“About time to unveil the D and something else,” wrote Musk, accompanied by the above photograph of what appears to be Model S and the date October 9, 2014.

What does D stand for?

Some media outlets have taken the announcement to mean that Tesla is unveiling a new vehicle called Model D. This is highly unlikely for a few reasons, not least of which we have yet to even see a prototype of Model 3.

The most plausible explanation for the letter D is a dual-motor AWD system for Model S, given that the company is developing all-wheel-drive for Model X and has hinted in the past that the system would eventually find its way into Model S. A VIN decoder, courtesy of our friends at the Tesla Motors Club (via InsideEVs), appears to confirm the dual-motor theory.

Okay, what about “something else?”

The more interesting speculation centers on what this something else may be. A few possibilities:

The official announcement of driver assist systems, as adaptive cruise control and lane-departure warning systems have reportedly been implemented into new Model S vehicles.

An upgrade to the Tesla Roadster, likely to the battery pack, which Musk has hinted at before.

A wagon variant of Model S, which we think would be intriguing.

A partnership with BMW or Nissan involving the Supercharger network, or faster charge rates.

Or a new higher-capacity battery pack, possibly in the 100-110 kWh range.

For real answers, we will just have to wait until next Thursday. Feel free to partake in the speculation in the comments below.