Elon Musk revealed on Friday that Tesla will kick off its robotaxi fleet this summer.
San Francisco:
Elon Musk revealed on Friday that Tesla will launch self-driving taxis this summer, news that comes as the adoption of self-driving cars is hampered by safety concerns.
The electric carmaker’s billionaire owner didn’t provide details, saying in a post on X that “Tesla Robotaxi Unveiled” will be released on August 8.
Following the publication of this article, Tesla shares rose more than 3% in after-hours trading after closing down for the day.
Musk has long touted Tesla’s work on self-driving systems for electric vehicles.
Tesla models equipped with FSD (Full Self-Driving) “will be so superhuman that in the future it will look weird for humans to drive even when tired and drunk!” he told X in March said one post.
Musk also said that owners of Tesla vehicles equipped with FSD will be able to use their cars as robotaxis rather than park them idle.
Despite their potential, the rollout of self-driving cars in the U.S. has been tentative and unstable due to safety concerns from regulators and the public.
San Francisco has been a testing ground for the technology.
Google’s Waymo’s robotaxis in the city have been targeted by vandals opposed to self-driving cars, while General Motors Co.’s Cruise suspended its robotaxis indefinitely in late October after several crashes prompted a crackdown from California regulators Serve.
Tesla’s “Autopilot” feature has also come under scrutiny, with some accusing its marketing of exaggerating its actual capabilities.
Tesla’s launch of robotaxis comes after Reuters reported that the company abandoned Musk’s long-touted plan to produce an electric car model that would cost nearly $25,000 to drive mass market adoption.
Musk denied the report in a post.
Tesla reported this week that first-quarter vehicle sales fell sharply due to a poor outlook for electric vehicle demand, while legacy companies such as Toyota saw sales rise on the back of improved U.S. inventories.
Musk’s auto giant reported an 8.5% drop in global deliveries in the quarter, partly reflecting a soft sales market in China, where it faces stiff competition from local electric carmakers.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives called the quarterly results “a complete disaster.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
