On August 8, Tesla will unveil its much-anticipated robotaxi, according to a post Elon Musk made on X. The next-generation car platform from Tesla is reportedly used in the construction of the upcoming autonomous vehicle.
The news was made the same day that Reuters revealed the company had abandoned its plans to produce an electric car that would have been more reasonably priced, estimated to cost around $25,000. According to reports, Musk informed staff members that his goal was to fully concentrate on developing an autonomous car that would render other vehicles obsolete, rather than developing a mass-market EV.
Musk has long hinted at the prospect of a robotaxi from Tesla, even displaying a fully covered car during an event in 2023 to reveal the third Master Plan for the business. He had predicted years before that Tesla owners will be able to charge for their autonomous vehicles by using them to transport people.
This is what Musk’s Master Plan Part Deux refers to as the “Tesla Network.” “By simply pressing a button on the Tesla phone app, you will also be able to add your car to the shared fleet of Tesla vehicles and have it generate income for you during your work or vacation, significantly offsetting and sometimes even surpassing the monthly cost of your loan or lease,” he said.
A few years later, such goals became even more ambitious. In 2019, Musk declared, “We’ll have over a million Tesla cars on the road with Full Self-Driving hardware by the middle of next year.” He went on to say that Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) capability would be so dependable that the driver could “go to sleep.” (Uses of the company’s FSD software on Teslas prohibit autonomous driving, and it is strongly urged that drivers avoid sleeping in their cars.)
It’s now common knowledge among Tesla fans that Musk frequently stated that driverless cars would be available in “a year” or less. While his promises may not quite match reality, his fans point to the success of Autopilot and subsequently FSD as proof that he is leading the way in society’s transition from human-powered to AI-piloted vehicles. He is even building an army of humanoid labor bots to demonstrate the formal atheism of the technology.
However, critics contend that he exaggerates the technology’s potential, frequently with lethal consequences. Numerous fatalities and hundreds of collisions involving Tesla cars equipped with FSD and Autopilot have occurred. The business is being challenged for multiple unlucky deaths. The company’s self-driving claims are being looked into by the US leaders, and late last year, a significant recall was declared. It appears that even the robot has faults.
August’s robotaxi event fits nicely with Tesla’s annual tradition of presenting two or more high-profile events. It was the Cybertruck delivery event and the Master Plan last year. At least half of the company’s plans for 2024 are now known to us.