Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently announced that the automaker is gearing up to unveil its latest innovation, the ‘robotaxi’, a futuristic self-driving vehicle, on August 8th.
Following the success of the Cybertruck, Tesla has been under anticipation for the launch of two new electric vehicles: a budget-friendly electric car known as the “$25,000 Tesla Model 2” and a cutting-edge “dedicated robotaxi” designed exclusively for autonomous driving.
While Tesla had initially focused on upgrading all vehicles manufactured since 2016 to offer robotaxi capabilities through software updates, Musk revealed at the Tesla’s Cyber Rodeo event in April 2022 that the company will introduce a new vehicle specifically engineered to be a “robotaxi.”
In a recent announcement, CEO Elon Musk confirmed the unveiling of the Robotaxi on August 8th:
Interestingly, this announcement follows a report suggesting that Tesla had abandoned the “Model 2” in favor of the Robotaxi.
Despite Musk’s denial of the report, this latest unveiling appears to accelerate the robotaxi program, as Tesla had previously hinted at unveiling next-gen vehicles by the end of 2024.
As per Walter Issacson’s authorized biography of Musk, the Tesla Robotaxi will be “Cybertruck-like.”
The book also shared an image of an early design prototype of the vehicle, shown above.
Electrek’s Take
The concept of a “Tesla Robotaxi” aims to develop a vehicle tailored specifically for autonomous ridesharing services from the ground up. While intriguing, this initiative has raised concerns among some Tesla owners as it may shift the focus towards achieving self-driving capabilities on this new hardware, potentially neglecting existing vehicle fleets promised to customers over the years.
The upcoming unveiling will provide crucial insights for current FSD owners. If the vehicle is revealed with the same or very similar sensor suite, particularly camera-only, it would be a positive development.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
