Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, announced on X that the electric car manufacturer will reveal its eagerly anticipated robotaxi on 8 August.
Musk has long discussed the Robotaxi project, which may open up significant new revenue streams for the automaker if investors become less confident in the business amid a period of slowing expansion.
At a 2019 investor event, Elon Musk hinted that the robotaxi, a next-generation self-driving car, would one day enable owners to generate revenue by renting out their cars and running an autonomous taxi service, where the business would also receive a fee.
Shortly after an article claiming that the electric vehicle manufacturer was abandoning ambitions to produce a more affordable automobile in favour of an autonomous vehicle that would eventually replace other cars, Elon Musk made the announcement.
For years, there have been rumours that Tesla was developing these two cars. According to accounts in Walter Isaacson’s biography of Musk, however, while not having yet created a fully autonomous automobile, Musk has been unsure about whether to prioritise a regular car or one without a steering wheel or pedals.
In the middle of 2022, the CEO resisted his engineers’ insistence on making a comparison to a car with pedals and a steering wheel.
Lead designer Franz von Holzhausen and engineering vice president Lars Moravy continued to work on the more conventional automobile version as a “shadow project” while he advanced, as Isaacson noted at the time.
Insider sources claimed that contrary to its moniker, Tesla’s top option requires a human driver who is prepared to steer or brake at any time.
We earlier reported that Users with more than 2,500 “verified subscriber followers” on Elon Musk’s app are given verified checkmarks and are eligible to receive free Premium memberships.