- Elon Musk announced that Tesla will unveil a robotaxi on August 8th, hours after claiming a Reuters report about ditching the $25,000 EV was “lying”
- The announcement comes as Tesla’s EV sales and profits have fallen, prompting a search for a new product to boost sales and stock price
- Musk has long promised autonomous capabilities and robotaxis from Tesla, but the company has yet to produce a fully self-driving vehicle
Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced plans to reveal a Tesla robotaxi on August 8, just hours after disputing a report that the automaker is delaying its low-cost EV to focus on the robotaxi.
Musk Denies Report of Low-Cost EV Delay
Earlier on Friday, Reuters reported that Tesla is putting its planned $25,000 EV on hold to focus efforts on a robotaxi built on the same platform. Musk took to Twitter to claim the report is false, providing no evidence to contradict it.
Robotaxi Unveiling Now Set for August
Despite denying the Reuters report, Musk soon tweeted that Tesla will unveil a robotaxi on August 8. The announcement comes as Tesla faces lagging EV sales and profits, leading it to seek new products to boost revenues.
Years of Unfulfilled Autonomous Driving Promises
Musk has been promising autonomous capabilities in Tesla vehicles for years, with targets consistently missed. Tesla’s driver assistance system Autopilot does not provide full autonomy requiring human oversight at all times. An FSD upgrade also lacks full self-driving ability.
Wavering Between Steering Wheel and No Pedals
According to Walter Isaacson’s Musk biography, the CEO has wavered on whether to build a car with or without a steering wheel, despite not yet achieving full autonomy. At times Musk has pushed back against including human controls, though engineers have continued developing a standard vehicle as a “shadow project.”
The robotaxi unveiled in August will provide insight into whether Musk has committed to full autonomy without human controls, or if the vehicle will retain traditional driving capabilities as a fallback.
