Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla has hinted that its planned robotaxi that is being built on the same small EV platform that was also supposed to power its lower-cost vehicle will be launched in August, 2024.
Musk dropped the hint on his verified handle on the microblogging platform, X, Friday night.
Musk has talked about the robotaxi project for years. It is poised to become a major new business for the Tesla as investors grow wary of the company during a period of slowing growth.
Musk’s hint came after Reuters reported that Tesla’s highly anticipated low-cost car model, Model 2, slated to cost $25,000, have been scrapped. Musk disagreed with Reuters report, calling it a “lie”.
The anticipated robotaxi would allow Teslas to use self-driving technology to autonomously go around and pick up riders for fares. In 2019, Musk projected over 1 million robotaxis on the road by 2020.
Tesla’s robotaxi would join leading brands like Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle unit Waymo which operates driverless ride-hailing services in Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles, and is now ramping up in Tesla’s home base of Austin, Texas, in a fierce market race.
