Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO and a billionaire mogul, declared that his company’s long-awaited, entirely automated taxi service will debut later this summer.
Musk announced on his social media platform X, the troubled site formerly Twitter, which he acquired for $44 billion in 2022, “Tesla Robotaxi unveil on 8/8.”
The declaration is made amid increasing customer discontent regarding Tesla’s introduction of its Cybertruck, an electric vehicle (EV) that resembles a futuristic vehicle and has been met with numerous safety and performance grievances from early adopters and enthusiasts.
But Musk also made comparable ‘robotaxi’ pledges at a Tesla investors’ day held at the EV manufacturer’s Palo Alto, California headquarters this month, five years ago.
Elon Musk expressed to investors in April 2019 that he was “extremely confident” Tesla would have its autonomous robotaxis operational by 2020.
The tech entrepreneur, worth a billion dollars, then demonstrated a Tesla ride-sharing application.
Musk stated that Tesla initiated autonomous vehicle development 2016 to introduce a ride-sharing service.
The proposed model would function by recovering Model 3s that have been leased from customers following the expiration of their contracts and subsequently repurposing those automobiles for the ride-sharing enterprise.
Tesla’s Robotaxi Unveiling: August 8th, 2024
Musk stated that Tesla believed it could rapidly increase the number of operational robotaxis to around one million by 2020.
Subsequently, Musk drew a parallel between the Tesla Network and an amalgamation of the Uber and Airbnb platforms.
He stated at the 2019 event that the organization intended to retain a stake of 25 to 30 percent of the revenue generated per voyage on the Tesla Network.
The sustainability of the proposal above after five years and the credibility of Musk’s anticipated debut date of August 8, 2024, still need to be determined.
Elon Musk declared through X on Friday, hours after a Reuters exposé exposed the billionaire’s intentions to defy Tesla’s design team, which had previously persuaded him to produce a cost-effective electric vehicle (EV) priced at $25,000.
Investors viewed the ‘half price’ electric vehicle, scheduled to enter production the following year, as a potential salvation for the struggling automaker.
Friday’s Reuters article prompted a decline of over 5 percent in the share price of Tesla, which subsequently began a gradual recovery. This year, one of the worst-performing stocks in the S&P 500 was that of the company.
Additionally, Tesla’s stock price declined earlier this week after the disclosure that the organization significantly failed to meet delivery projections for the initial quarter of 2024.
In addition, competition has intensified from Chinese adversaries such as BYD, an electric vehicle manufacturer founded in the mid-1990s as a battery manufacturer.
BYD has recently introduced a $10,000 entry-level, ultra-affordable consumer electric vehicle in China.
Musk, appearing to be teasing his followers on the social media platform he currently controls, stated on X that the unveiling date of August 8, 8/8, was not only the most auspicious number in Chinese culture but also signified the beginning of Tesla’s robotaxis in the ‘year of the Dragon.’
