Elon Musk mentioned Tesla will introduce its robotaxi on August 8

Tesla will unveil its long-promised robotaxi on August eighth, Elon Musk simply wrote on X. The upcoming autonomous automotive is claimed to be constructed on Tesla’s next-generation car platform.

The announcement got here on the identical day as Reuters reported that the corporate canceled its plans to create a extra reasonably priced electrical automotiveis claimed to be within the $25,000 vary. Musk reportedly advised staff that as an alternative of constructing a mass-market electrical automotive, he needs to focus solely on an autonomous car that may make different autos out of date.

Musk has lengthy teased the opportunity of a Tesla robotaxi and even confirmed off a totally enclosed car throughout a 2023 occasion celebrating the corporate’s third grasp plan. Just a few years earlier, he steered that Tesla house owners may make cash from their autonomous automobiles by sending them to select up and drop off passengers.

This would be the so-called “Tesla community”, as described in Musk’s grasp plan, half two. “You may additionally be capable to add your automotive to the Tesla fleet with simply the contact of a button within the Tesla telephone app,” he wrote, “and have it earn you revenue whilst you’re at work or on trip, vastly offsetting and generally probably exceeding your month-to-month mortgage value or hire.”

Just a few years later, these plans grew to become even grander. “By the center of subsequent 12 months, we may have over one million Full Self-Driving outfitted Teslas on the highway,” Musk mentioned in 2019. Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) characteristic shall be so dependable that the driving force can “fall asleep,” he added. (Teslas with the corporate’s FSD software program aren’t autonomous, and drivers are suggested to not sleep of their automobiles.)

Musk’s repeated claims that autonomous autos are solely a “12 months” or so away are actually a part of the Tesla story. Its supporters level to the success of Autopilot after which FSD as proof that whereas its guarantees could not fairly match actuality, it’s nonetheless on the forefront of the societal shift from human-powered autos to piloted automobiles. AI. He even creates a military of humanoid robots to show that expertise is technically agnostic.

However critics say he exaggerates the expertise’s capabilities, usually with lethal outcomes. There have been a whole lot of accidents involving Tesla autos utilizing FSD and Autopilot, and dozens of deaths. The corporate faces quite a few wrongful demise claims. The US authorities is investigation of firm claims round autonomous driving and main evaluate was introduced late final 12 months. Even a robotic appears inaccurate.

The robotaxi occasion in August is actually consistent with Tesla’s behavior of internet hosting at the least two high-profile occasions yearly. Final 12 months it was the grasp plan and supply occasion for the Cybertruck. Now we all know at the least half of what awaits the corporate in 2024.