Elon Musk says Tesla will unveil its robotaxi on Aug. 8; shares pop

Tesla
will
reveal
its
robotaxi
product
on
Aug.
8,
CEO
Elon
Musk
said
in
a
social
media
post
on
X.

Musk
has
spoken
about
the
robotaxi
project
for
years,
and
it
could
represent
a
major
new
business
for
the
carmaker
as
investors
grow
wary
of
the
company

during
a
period
of
slowing
growth.

Tesla
shares
rose
over
3%
in
extended
trading
after
Musk’s
tweet.

Musk
shared
the
reveal
date
on
Friday
after

Reuters
reported
that
plans
for
Tesla’s
highly
anticipated
low-cost
car
model
had
been
scrapped.
Musk
accused
Reuters
of “lying.”

In
2015,
Elon
Musk
told
shareholders
that
Tesla’s
cars
would
achieve “full
autonomy”
within
three
years.
In
2016,
he
said
Tesla
would
able
to
send
one
of
its
cars
on
a
cross-country
drive
without
requiring
any
human
intervention
by
the
end
of
the
following
year.

Tesla
still
has
yet
to
deliver
a
robotaxi,
autonomous
vehicle
or
technology
that
can
turn
its
cars
into “level
3”
automated
vehicles.
However,
Tesla
offers
advanced
driver
assistance
systems
(ADAS),
including
a
standard
Autopilot
option
or
premium
Full
Self-Driving “FSD”
option,
the
latter
of
which
costs
$199
per
month
for
U.S.
subscribers
or
$12,000
upfront.

In
a
push
for
end-of-quarter
sales,
Musk
recently
mandated
that
all
sales
and
service
staff
install
and
demo
FSD
for
customers
before
handing
over
the
keys.
He
wrote
in
an
email
to
employees, “Almost
no
one
actually
realizes
how
well
(supervised)
FSD
actually
works.
I
know
this
will
slow
down
the
delivery
process,
but
it
is
nonetheless
a
hard
requirement.”

Despite
its
name,
Tesla’s
premium
option
requires
a
human
driver
at
the
wheel,
ready
to
steer
or
brake
at
any
moment.

Alphabet’s
autonomous
vehicle
unit
Waymo
operates
commercial,
driverless
ride-hailing
services
in
Phoenix,
San
Francisco
and
Los
Angeles,
and
is
ramping
up
in
Tesla’s
home
base
of
Austin,
Texas.
Waymo
also
recently
struck
a
multi-year
partnership
with
Uber
and
will
put
its
robotaxis
to
use
delivering
food
for
Uber
Eats
in
Arizona.
In
China,
Didi’s
autonomous
unit
operates
commercially
in
markets
including
Guangzhou.
Companies
including
Wayve
in
the
U.K.
and
Zoox
in
the
U.S.
continue
testing
their
robotaxis.

Some
companies
have
had
a
tough
time
in
the
crowded
market.

On
Friday,
Apple
shuttered
its
self-driving
unit
and
laid
off
about
600
people
on
Friday
who
had
been
associated
with
the
project.
GM’s
Cruise
service
previously
offered
self-driving
car
services
in
San
Francisco
before
being
wound
down
under
regulatory
scrutiny
after
an
accident.
Since
the
incident,
Cruise’s
robotaxi
fleet

has
been
grounded,
local
and
federal
governments
have
launched
their
own
investigations
and
Cruise
leadership
has
been
gutted.

At
Tesla, “unveil”
dates
do
not
predict
a
near-future
date
for
a
commercial
release
of
a
new
product.
For
example,
Tesla
unveiled
its
fully
electric
heavy-duty
truck,
the
Semi,
in
2017
and
did
not
begin
deliveries
until
December
2022.
It
still
produces
and
sells
very

few
Semis
to
this
day.

–
CNBC’s
Kif
Leswing
contributed
reporting.