Elon Musk has announced that Tesla will construct a new futuristic-looking electric car known as a “dedicated robotaxi” — however, there is no specific deadline for the new vehicle.
Tesla’s new headquarters will be housed in a US$1.1 billion facility in Texas, which the CEO disclosed while rocking a black cowboy hat and sunglasses at the company’s Cyber Rodeo event.
“Massive scale. Full self-driving. There’s going to be a dedicated robotaxi,” Mr Musk said, referring to self-driving taxis.
He teased about a new electric vehicle joining Tesla’s portfolio that will exclusively be used for taxi services. This would be a departure from Tesla’s current self-driving approach, which has centred on achieving self-driving capability with existing technology on the company’s already-on-the-road vehicles.
Musk has mentioned that Tesla is developing a new vehicle exclusively for self-driving. Other self-driving startups, such as Zoox, have embraced this strategy. It provides more design freedom because a human will never drive the vehicle; hence a driver’s seat and controls are unnecessary.
There has also been speculation that Tesla will construct a self-driving vehicle to drive in The Boring Company’s tunnels.
Musk did not provide a timeframe for the new Tesla dedicated robotaxi. Still, it is unlikely to be a priority until the company can fulfil its promise to the tens of thousands of owners who have already purchased the Full Self-Driving (FSD) package on existing vehicles.
Gigafactory Texas was the ultimate showstopper during the event. However, the CEO made sure to get people enthusiastic about incoming new products, stating that 2023 will be the year for new vehicles, with the Cybertruck, Tesla Semi, and new Roadster all going into production the following year.
