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 shall be unveiled on August 8.
The announcement, posted by Musk on X Friday afternoon, capped off a bizarre day of studies 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 lots. The “next generation” car is broadly considered key to the electrical automaker’s survival, particularly as competitors heats up within the EV area. Instead, the information company reported, Tesla would concentrate 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 acquired fallacious. Hours later, he appeared to substantiate a part of the report by posting that Tesla’s subsequent product launch would concentrate on robotaxis.
The obvious pivot is shocking for a couple of causes.
Tesla has promised for years, however has not delivered, really self-driving know-how. In 2016, Tesla mentioned that each one the corporate’s automobiles could 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 homeowners might share their autonomous automobiles with others. “When true self-driving is approved by regulators,” he wrote, prospects 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 buyers 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, known as Full Self-Driving, is technically solely a “level 2” on the five-point autonomy scale, that means the automotive 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 may very well be misused by drivers as a result of it didn’t pressure them to pay ample consideration whereas driving. Tesla, which mentioned it did not agree with regulators’ evaluation, pushed out fixes to prospects 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 more durable 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 gives 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 complete 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 all over the place its vehicles are offered, its plans shall be much more bold than these rivals’, who’ve been engaged on the issue of autonomy for years.