The mysterious CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, has declared that this year will see the release of the much-anticipated robotaxi. Musk tweeted that the announcement will take place on August 8th on X, the platform that was formerly known as Twitter.
A key component of Tesla’s plan to boost the value of its cars through software is this autonomous ride-hailing vehicle. Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) software has been hailed by Musk as a game-changer, with the potential to increase the cars’ value over time. This is important in a market where new cars depreciate quickly and profit margins are narrow.
Before the launch of FSD “supervised,” it was beta testing for a while, but now it is in its release form. Nevertheless, it remains at level two in terms of the standard industry scale, which means human surveillance is needed and full autonomy has not been achieved yet.
In their effort to develop their autonomous vehicle, Tesla is not alone; other major companies such as Waymo from Alphabet and Cruise, which have funding support from GM, have also made significant progress towards the release of highly capable self-driving cars. Musk denied accusations about an end to a similar venture, an affordable EV model, mentioning that Reuters was in “lies (again).”
As of now, the cost and timeline for Tesla’s robotaxi are yet to be determined. Currently, FSD sets one back $200 per month if they own a car with needed hardware modifications. Tesla’s Musk had already proposed the idea of a completely different design where pedals and a steering wheel would not exist in future models; rather, such a design would be optimized for the least expensive cost-per-mile or kilometer.
With the upcoming unveiling of its robotaxi, Tesla continues to push the boundaries of autonomous driving technology, aiming to revolutionize the transportation industry with its innovative approach.