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Transportation AI

Elon Musk Says Tesla Will Unveil Its Robotaxi on August 8 (cnbc.com) 86

Posted by EditorDavid from the rise-of-the-machines dept.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Tesla "is poised to roll out its version of a robotaxi later this year, according to CEO Elon Musk." ("Musk made the announcement on social media saying 'Tesla Robotaxi unveil on 8/8.' His cryptic post contained no other details about the forthcoming line of autonomous vehicles.")

Electrek thinks they know what it'll look like. "Through Walter Issacson's approved biography of Musk, we learned that Tesla Robotaxi will be 'Cybertruck-like'."

8/8 (of the year 2024) would be a Thursday — although CNBC adds one additional clarification: 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.
"Tesla shares rose over 3% in extended trading after Musk's tweet."

Elon Musk Says Tesla Will Unveil Its Robotaxi on August 8 More | Reply

Elon Musk Says Tesla Will Unveil Its Robotaxi on August 8

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  • Fail, learn, improve, repeat (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Baron_Yam ( 643147 ) on Saturday April 06, 2024 @12:38PM (#64374898)

    This cycle was great for rockets. I look forward to seeing how it works with taxis full of and surrounded by squishy humans.

    • They tested on apes first like neural link.

    • He is so far behind what Google is doing he can't hope to catch up. And his rather unpleasant managerial style has chased off a lot of good engineers so he's not going to be able to catch up. The best he can hope for is to get some patents you can use to protect the company in order to hold off a patent War. And that is an important thing to be doing in our fucked up patent system.

      But the real reason this is coming out is because it's leaked that they've given up on the affordable electric car and are go

      • Re:He's just pumping the stock (Score:4, Informative)

        by AlanObject ( 3603453 ) on Saturday April 06, 2024 @02:19PM (#64375112)

        But the real reason this is coming out is because it's leaked that they've given up on the affordable electric car and are going to cede that entire market to Hyundai and Kia.

        By announcing plans for a $25,000 car and committing funds for a factory to build it. Makes sense.

        Did you know you can buy a sub-$10,000 all-EV car already? Just look it up on alibaba. Why hasn't Tesla's sales in China (and BYD's for that matter) been destroyed by that? Maybe you need to think about how the sticker price is not the only parameter driving the market.

        I've been saying it for years but Tesla is on borrowed time. They're build quality just isn't good enough and their cards are running off a 5 year old platform that they just don't have the resources or the engineers to modernize and update.

        The Model Y is the top selling car in many market regions and the #1 car in more than one region. On top of that it is satisfactory to the German market. I think this speaks to the build quality far more than unsubstantiated claims. Repair records published by this or that magazine only tell part of the story. Consumers, of which I am one, are overwhelmingly satisfied with their cars. The complaints about build quality seem to come mostly from people who don't have one.

        As for resources, Tesla has enough cash in the bank to sustain all operations (and payroll!) for years even if they had zero revenue. The manufacturing techniques they have invested in and have up and running are now being belatedly imitated by other auto manufacturers. It goes way beyond the Giga-press.

        Yes there are more EV cars out there. But Tesla and BYD are the only ones so far that are making any money at it. GM and Ford are cancelling projects while Tesla is expanding. Just who is living on "borrowed time?"

        It doesn't help that his purchase of Twitter and his open support of right-wing extremists going right up to White supremacists and neo-nazis has turned off a lot of consumers. Or that he's wasting huge amounts of time on xitter instead of trying to attract better engineers so they can update his car platform for him.

        I would agree with this. Musk is acting like a drooling idiot here.

        What really made SpaceX take off is Elon Musk has a persona he's built up and it attracted a shitload of engineers that wanted to work for him instead of the other companies.

        Musk's contribution to SpaceX is that when he was driving it personally he set objectives and methods that absolutely no other top executive at any other aerospace company would tolerate. He took risks that were insane by modern corporate standards and it paid off. "Move fast and break things" is a culture that will be hated by some engineers and loved by others (depending on their own personalities) and there was nowhere else for that latter category to work.

        The result -- the lowest cost per kg to LEO in all history. They are launching Falcon rockets on a schedule that exceeds some airlines. I doubt one civilian in a hundred has any idea what they have achieved

        • this entire article is about a leak clearly indicating they're not going to build the sub $25k car.

          Sure, maybe in your time line Elon doesn't promote Nazis on Twitter and is on track for a sub $25k car, but here in mine Tesla makes about $8k on every car. $7500 of that can be attributed to a government subsidy that is going to get cut as soon as EVs are common place, which is the next 5-10 years.

          Oh, and Musk just cut prices by $4500 because of unsold inventory...

          Tesla's car platform is 5 years ol

        • Did you know you can buy a sub-$10,000 all-EV car already? Just look it up on alibaba.

          The ones on Alibaba are mostly just golf carts. A few people on YouTube have bought them expecting to get a real "car", to hilarious results (both in the poor build quality of the vehicle and how much money it actually costs to import one of these things).

          I did manage to find an article about someone who successfully imported a Wuling Mini [oklahoman.com], and they claim it's not really practical for driving above 37 MPH. In the USA at least, that "city car" may as well still be an actual golf cart.

        • Did you know you can buy a sub-$10,000 all-EV car already? Just look it up on alibaba. Why hasn't Tesla's sales in China (and BYD's for that matter) been destroyed by that?

          You know BYD actually sells cars in China sub 100000yuan right? I.e. $13k, and well outsell Teslas in that market right? Sticker price is absolutely something very important, and Tesla knows it.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by dgatwood ( 11270 )

        He is so far behind what Google is doing he can't hope to catch up.

        There's no question whether Tesla is years behind Waymo. But nobody else other than possibly GM is even in the running, so as long as Waymo and Cruise continue their plan to make full self driving be for fleet vehicles only, rather than sold to individual consumers, it really doesn't matter how far behind Tesla is, because the companies Tesla is actually competing against are still years behind Tesla.

        But the real reason this is coming out is because it's leaked that they've given up on the affordable electric car and are going to cede that entire market to Hyundai and Kia. Meanwhile BMW and Mercedes are starting to roll out serious electric cars that aren't just meant to meet government compliance requirements.

        Tesla hasn't cancelled anything (or at least Musk has flat out denied that this is the case, and as the CEO

    • Re:Fail, learn, improve, repeat (Score:4, Funny)

      by quantaman ( 517394 ) on Saturday April 06, 2024 @02:08PM (#64375092)

      This cycle was great for rockets. I look forward to seeing how it works with taxis full of and surrounded by squishy humans.

      SpaceX launched 98 rockets in 2023.

      Tesla is hoping the Robotaxi will launch at least as many humans in 2024.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by hawk ( 1151 )

        gosh, is he putting the ejection seats in just to get his eyepatch?

        and does this mean a convertible model, or a power passenger side sunroof? :)

        hawk

  • The last I heard about the taxi idea, they mentioned they were considering letting people send out their cars as taxis when not in use, and thus owning a Tesla could actually make you money.

    That does depend on true self driving to work but it seems like they are pretty close now.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by bjoast ( 1310293 )
      I really don't feel like finding used condoms and puke in my glove compartment after sending my car out for a Friday night taxi session. But everyone's different!
      • <sarcasm> Oh come on, I'm sure Musk will cover any damage done to your vehicle! </sarcasm>

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dgatwood ( 11270 )

        I really don't feel like finding used condoms and puke in my glove compartment after sending my car out for a Friday night taxi session. But everyone's different!

        Just have a prominent sign on the window that says "Anyone traveling in this car consents to being recorded, agrees that these recordings are the sole property of the car's owner, and grants said owner the right to distribute the recordings worldwide, in any medium, in perpetuity." That way, even though you still won't be happy about the used condoms in the car, at least you'll be able to pay someone else to clean it using the money you make from selling amateur porn. :-D

    • ... seems like they are pretty close now.

      Based on what evidence? Faith in Musk?

  • As soon as Elon does.

  • Another remote controlled robot [forbes.com]? How long before forums are filled with complaints [yahoo.com] over the vehicle breaking down?

    Hans Kristian Graebener = StoneToss

    • No joke Reddit has an entire thread dedicated to cybertrucks breaking down. Yeah it gets a lot of reposts but it gets a hell of a lot of new content too. There's been at least two or three posts of different cyber truck owners driving off the lot and breaking down within 5 mi. One guy didn't even make it out of the dealership.

      It doesn't take very many high profile duds to destroy a car company. Folks forget about all the car companies we had back in the late '70s and early '80s that just kind of went aw

      • Whoa! One whole Reddit thread?

        Reddit has dozens of threads about people asking for help with their spa draining back into their pool when the pump is off.

        So what?

        You're a really weird dude.

        I had a Ford that needed a new transmission shipped from Detroit by train after _10_ miles. I had a GM that needed a new drive shaft after 15k miles. I had a Tesla that needed a new 12v battery after 17k miles.

        Again, so what?

        Do you even own a car? Have you ever owned a car? Cars break. All cars from all manufacturer

        • I'm really glad i seem to buy the cars that dont break.

          • Oh there was also the Nissan that had the steering column lock mechanism that eventually wore out and froze in the locked position. That happened twice while I owned the car.

            The Mazda was fine although generally a piece of shit that leaked gallons of oil but nothing actually broke unless you count the battery shorting out. The Buick lost the master cylinder but it was 3am so no other cars on the road. I crawled home at idle speed on the streets and stopped by bouncing at a gradual angle off the curb. Th

  • I wonder if he'll throw a rock at this car, too.

  • He's panicking (Score:3, Insightful)

    by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Saturday April 06, 2024 @12:50PM (#64374944)
    Because he can't make an affordable card and BMW and Mercedes among others are moving in on his luxury car market. He can't possibly compete with them on build quality, prestige and marketing. He's always needed to pivot to affordable cars but he can't do that because his company isn't well enough run to contain costs while maintaining build quality in order to compete at that price point. Hell he's sitting on 150,000 unsold cars right now...

    I'm not saying you should sell your Tesla stock immediately. But he did just try to extract 55 billion from the company. I wouldn't call that a good look. I'd say you need to start paying attention because otherwise you're going to get caught with stock just as worthless as that GM stock from when they collapsed.

    Buddy of mine had about a grand in GM shares that he got caught holding the bag on when they folded...

    • I'm not saying you should sell your Tesla stock immediately.

      Considering the stock has lost over 50% of its value [marketwatch.com] in two years, you might be on to something.

    • BMW and MB catching up?? Not even close.

    • Hell he's sitting on 150,000 unsold cars right now...

      There are ~60,000 "unsold" inventory intended for sale. The rest are cars that are inventory that are part of doing business. Vehicles used for demo rides with over certain mileage cannot be sold as "new" so they never hit P&D reports. Likewise vehicles that are company-owned for purposes other than R&D are not sold. While the number is scary still, it is still lower inventory than legacy manufacturers have via their dealer network.

    • The decision to develop the cybertruck before an affordable commuter car just baffles me.

      I know pickups are the most profitable segment in the US, but they just aren't a natural fit as an EV - neither functionally nor culturally.

      PHEV makes the most sense for pickups but Tesla is not the company to do that.

      • There's little profit in low-end cars. It only makes sense if you can sell a lot of them. But commutes are long enough and charger availability scarce enough in the US that those cheap, short-range micro vehicles are not practical for many people here.

        Real pickups are where the big money is, because they are cheap to make and people are now willing to buy up-content ones for large amounts of money despite the high fuel prices. But this vehicle is not cheap to make, so I do agree it is a perplexing strategy.

        • Indeed. My BIL spent about 80k on a truck and then another 30k having it customized at a speciality body shop.

          The only visible changes: it's raised a bit but not dramatically, new tires to match the raise, an American flag on the back. SMH!

      • The decision to develop the cybertruck before an affordable commuter car just baffles me.

        I'd always assumed that it was to eventually lead on to battery driven military vehicles.

        I mean, those exist now, but only as little buggies and dirt bikes. Not great big heavy things.

        • Current battery tech can't run a modern military. You can't stop fighting for a few hours to charge up. The enemy is not that generous.
          As opposed to 2 minutes pouring fuel in the tank and going.

          Maybe some non combat vehicles no where near the enemy for, I dunno, delivering mail on base or driving the general around the golf course. But not for real military stuff.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by hawk ( 1151 )

          the profits on light trucks dwarf those of economy models. GM makes money on trucks, corvette, and cadillac. Ford on trucks and (maybe) mustang. the rest are close to breakeven.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by dgatwood ( 11270 )

      Because he can't make an affordable card and BMW and Mercedes among others are moving in on his luxury car market. He can't possibly compete with them on build quality, prestige and marketing.

      Tesla isn't a luxury car, and never has been one. It's a mid-range workhorse car like the Camry or RAV4, but all-electric. And it is priced accordingly, which is why the Model Y was roughly the #2 car (not including trucks) in America in 2023 (behind the Toyota RAV4 only slightly), and the Model 3 also holds its own pretty well. Tesla doesn't really need to compete against BMW and Mercedes. It is already competing against the high-volume sellers like the Toyota Camry.

      He's always needed to pivot to affordable cars but he can't do that because his company isn't well enough run to contain costs while maintaining build quality in order to compete at that price point.

      Tesla's most likely pivot options, s

      • And their prices are in line with a Lexus. As for the supercharger market in order to keep those subsidies coming Musk was forced to open the network to other manufacturers and he won't be able to close it again. Which is a fair deal because a lot of the money for building out that that work is again coming from the government. Remember Elon Musk is the biggest welfare Queen in human history.

        If 150,000 cars was no big deal musk wouldn't be cutting prices by 4,500. The reason he has that backup of inven

    • GM went bankrupt. Your friend is a clown if he rode GM into bankruptcy. It's not like it was a big secret they were fucked. He got greedy, bought low, thinking the court would save them with tax dollars and got caught with his pants down. Boo hoo.

      The Motors Liquidation shares still trade on the pink sheets at about 32 cents right now, btw. 32 cents a share is more than your dumb greedy friend deserves. (C'mon, tell the truth, the friend is really you, right?) Anyway, being bitter 15 years later about

  • How will it do in precipitation? (Score:3)

    by WindBourne ( 631190 ) on Saturday April 06, 2024 @01:05PM (#64374974) Journal
    As an owner of a Tesla, the biggest problem in Seattle is rain, esp for 4 months a year. During that time, our AP does not work.
    If tesla has not solved that, than precipitation is the killer.
    And it would smart to add back USS and add a hi-def radar. Sunlight blinds cameras as well as eyes.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      I guess is that it will be another rigged demo, not an actual product launch.

      • And what rigged demo has Tesla done? You mean where they were showcasing CT and it failed due to the sequence changing?
        Minor stuff.

        In general, Tesla does everything that they say they will, only timelines sux.
  • Hope you enjoyed the ride!

    Seriously, Elon is trying to make Total Recall a thing, with Neuralink, SpaceX and wanting to get his ass to Mars, and now Tesla auto-cabs.

  • Guess Musk Needed a Bump in Net Worth (Score:3)

    by tempo36 ( 2382592 ) on Saturday April 06, 2024 @01:43PM (#64375052)

    What's that? Tesla stock needed to bump a few percentage points? Maybe Musk can make an unsubstantiated and random promise on X! Just like the right-around-the-corner-FSD promises he's made now for ~7-8 years!

    I'll be holding my breath!

    (p.s. As a longtime-but-not-anymore Tesla owner who loves EVs in general and loved my Tesla but holy cow did Musk ever jump the shark and lose his connection with reality a while ago...)

  • Whatever he announces, there will not actually be a robotaxi that follows.
  • I highly doubt it will be based on the cybertruck, as with a taxi you want as much range as possible, and you want it as cheap possible to replace damages. So it will possible be a model Y based version with even cheaper ways to replace stuff/battery.
  • ...is it Robocop's preferred taxicab company ?

  • Is this going to be another person in a robot suit? I can't wait!

  • Elon Musk Says Tesla Will Unveil Its Robotaxi on August , 2024

    Based on previous experience we can expect that:
    Elon Musk Says Tesla Will Unveil Its Robotaxi on August , 2025
    Elon Musk Says Tesla Will Unveil Its Robotaxi on August , 2026
    Elon Musk Says Tesla Will Unveil Its Robotaxi on August , 2027
    Elon Musk Says Tesla Will Unveil Its Robotaxi on August , 2028
    ...
    Elon Musk Says Tesla Will Unveil Its Robotaxi on August , 2043
    ...
    etc, etc, Ad Nauseam.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by leonbev ( 111395 )

      Oh, he'll probably unveil a prototype on August 2024.

      You just won't be able to ride in one until 2029 if you're lucky.

  • Why 8-8? Is that a Nazi reference? He has done shit like that when he said he had a private buyer for Tesla at 420, a reference to marijuana.

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