Tesla Robotaxi Reveal Set For August 8: Here's What We Know
One of Tesla's more ambitious projects may become a reality — or at least one step closer to it — on August 8. CEO (and largest shareholder) Elon Musk has revealed that the automaker intends to "unveil" its Robotaxi later this summer. The Robotaxi isn't exactly a new idea, having been part of Musk's "Master Plan 2," which was first detailed back in 2016.
The robotic taxi service itself is also closely related to another one of Tesla's core ideas: self-driving vehicles. Full self-driving is still not a feature on any of the company's cars, and increasingly optimistic beta tests have had mixed results. Still, the concept is a core element of Tesla's brand, and the Robotaxi concept relies on it completely. Essentially, users will be able to book a ride through an app, a driverless car will then pick them up, and they will be taken to their chosen destination. Tesla owners will also eventually benefit from the program, if it lives up to Musk's ambitious claims. If you own a Tesla, so the proposal goes, you can essentially volunteer your car as a driverless Uber when you aren't using it. It will then earn you money by picking up fares and chauffeuring them around.
Tesla Robotaxi unveil on 8/8
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 5, 2024
As this is Elon Musk, it's worth taking things with a pinch of salt. The billionaire has been more than a little optimistic about Robotaxi's release date before, and it's not just the tech that is holding things back. While some jurisdictions are pretty open to the idea, self-driving tech has run into legislative brick walls in most states and countries. If the service is to operate outside of individual, tech-friendly cities like San Francisco, Musk is going to have to convince a lot of lawmakers that his robotic chauffeur is safe.
The Robotaxi may salvage something from the Model 2's death
Musk's announcement on X wasn't the only time Tesla's Robotaxi was mentioned on April 5. Just hours earlier, it was revealed that the long-awaited Model 2 project was essentially dead. Leaked internal emails from Tesla suggested that the company had pulled the plug on its plans to produce an ultra-cheap family car. These plans stretched back to the early days of Tesla, when Elon Musk suggested that the early focus on premium vehicles was all intended to eventually facilitate a platform that could supply cheap, yet high-quality, EVs to the masses. This idea was fleshed out as time went on, and the first budget Tesla was set to roll off the production line in early 2025.
However, unlike the repeatedly delayed Cybertruck, the Model 2 will likely never see the light of day. Competition from Chinese EV manufacturers, including some that produce vehicles for less than half of the Model 2's purported MSRP, seems to be the reason the project was scrapped.
The one silver lining for those involved seems to be Musk's plans to build a self-driving Robotaxi on the platform that the Model 2 would have used. While Musk is tight lipped on that — posting on X only that "Reuters is dead" in response to the leaks — it would certainly fit with previous reports about the shared architecture. Whether we see a real Robotaxi in August, or something closer to a render or mockup, is anyone's guess: after all, we're talking about a company whose first humanoid robot "demo" was a person dancing in a spandex suit.