Mark your calendars: Tesla CEO Elon Musk instructed this afternoon that his electrical automaker goes all-in on autonomous car tech—and that Tesla’s robotaxi can be unveiled on August 8.
The announcement, posted by Musk on X Friday afternoon, capped off a bizarre day of experiences and counter-reports that despatched Tesla’s inventory on a roller-coaster journey, slipping down 6 factors on the day earlier than recovering in after-hours buying and selling. Earlier within the day, Reuters reported that Tesla had canceled long-gestating plans to develop an inexpensive electrical car for the plenty. The “next generation” car is broadly regarded as key to the electrical automaker’s survival, particularly as competitors heats up within the EV house. Instead, the information company reported, Tesla would focus on constructing a robotaxi, which might use a lot of the identical {hardware} because the low-cost car.
But Musk logged on to X to disclaim not less than a part of the Reuters story. “Reuters is lying (again),” he posted, with out specifying what the information company bought flawed. Hours later, he appeared to verify a part of the report by posting that Tesla’s subsequent product launch would focus on robotaxis.
The obvious pivot is shocking for just a few causes.
Tesla has promised for years, however has not delivered, actually self-driving know-how. In 2016, Tesla stated that every one the corporate’s autos can be shipped with the {hardware} essential to drive themselves—permitting drivers to nap and even ship their vehicles cross-country with out anybody inside.
In a “master plan” posted by Musk that yr, he outlined a (nonetheless) futuristic situation by which Tesla house owners may share their autonomous autos with others. “When true self-driving is approved by regulators,” he wrote, clients would “be able to add your car to the Tesla shared fleet just by tapping a button on the Tesla phone app and have it generate income for you while you’re at work or on vacation.” In 2019, Musk advised a room filled with traders that by the subsequent yr, the automaker would have “over a million Tesla cars on the road with full self-driving hardware.” That did not occur.
Meanwhile, Tesla’s driver help tech, referred to as Full Self-Driving, is technically solely a “level 2” on the five-point autonomy scale, which means the automobile can pilot itself solely with driver supervision. Tesla’s newest self-driving software program replace is the primary to not be labeled as “beta” by the automaker.
Still, Tesla’s driver help know-how has been closely criticized by the National Transportation Safety Board, the US’s transportation security watchdog. A two-year investigation by the nation’s prime street security regulator concluded late final yr with a dedication that Tesla’s know-how might be misused by drivers as a result of it didn’t power them to pay enough consideration whereas driving. Tesla, which stated it did not agree with regulators’ evaluation, pushed out fixes to clients through over-the-air software program updates. Tesla maintains that its driver help options are safer than human drivers.
What’s extra, different autonomous car builders have confronted critical rising pains within the final half-decade. A know-how that was as soon as touted as “just around the corner” proved each tougher and far more costly than as soon as deliberate. Today, years after most main auto and tech producers pledged self-driving software program, only a few main gamers stay. After billions of {dollars} in devoted analysis and growth and greater than 7 million miles pushed, Google spinoff Waymo solely offers paid taxi rides in two cities—Phoenix and San Francisco—although it plans to launch in Austin, Texas, in addition to Los Angeles and the broader San Francisco Bay Area quickly. Another robotaxi competitor, General Motors’ Cruise, has put its total service on pause after a driverless taxi struck and injured a pedestrian, which led to a conflict with California regulators. If Tesla desires to roll out robotaxi service in every single place its vehicles are bought, its plans can be much more bold than these opponents’, who’ve been working on the issue of autonomy for years.