Billionaire mogul and Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that his company’s long-rumored, fully automated taxi service will arrive later this summer
‘Tesla Robotaxi unveil on 8/8,’ Musk posted to his social media platform X, the beleaguered site once known as Twitter, which Musk bought for $44 billion in 2022.
The announcement comes amid swelling customer dissatisfaction with the roll-out of Tesla’s futuristic-looking new electric vehicle (EV), the Cybertruck, which has faced numerous safety and performance complaints.
But Musk made similar ‘robotaxi’ promises five years ago this month, at a Tesla investors’ day held at the EV-maker’s Palo Alto, California headquarters.
Musk told investors that April 2019 event that he was ‘very confident’ Tesla will have autonomous robo-taxis on the road as soon as next year, 2020.
The billionaire tech mogul then showed off a Tesla ride-sharing app.
‘Tesla Robotaxi unveil on 8/8,’ Tesla mogul Elon Musk posted to his social media platform X
But Musk made similar promises five years ago this month, at Tesla’s Autonomy Day with investors at the electric vehicle-maker’s Palo Alto, California headquarters
In April 2019, Musk said he was ‘very confident’ Tesla would have autonomous robo-taxis on the road as soon as 2020. Pictured, a mock up of Tesla’s ride-sharing app
Musk said Tesla began developing full self-driving technology in 2016 with the idea of launching a ride-share service.
It would operate by reclaiming leased Model 3s from consumers once their contract expires, then re-purposing the vehicles for the ride-sharing service.
In doing so, Tesla believes it can quickly scale the number of robotaxis it has on the road to approximately one million in operation by 2020, Musk said back in 2019.
Musk compared the Tesla Network to a combination between Uber and Airbnb.
The company would take between 25 and 30 percent of revenue generated per ride in the Tesla Network, he said.
Musk joking about robotaxi’s lucky symbolism with a fan on his social site X
Musk’s Friday announcement via social media followed a Reuters exposé revealing the billionaire has now overridden those on Tesla’s design team who had previously convinced him to develop a more economical EV at a $25,000 price point.
The ‘half price’ electric car was due to go into production starting next year, viewed by investors as the saving grace that could rescue the struggling automaker.
Tesla’s share price fell more than 5 percent, following the Reuters piece, but gradually started to recover. The company’s stock is one of the worst performing in the S&P 500 this year.
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