Tesla to delay robotaxi launch: what you should know

Elon Musk-owned Tesla is not ready to reveal its robotaxi design in August and is instead pushing the event to October. According to sources, the company needs more time to build the prototypes. Following the news, Tesla's shares fell more than 6%.

Background: Musk first hinted at the robotaxi event in April. Reuters reported the same day that Tesla had shelved plans for a new vehicle on a future platform priced at approximately $25,000. Musk denied this report on his social media platform, X.

In March the billionaire said on X that Tesla models with FSD (full self-driving) "will be superhuman to such a degree that it will seem strange in the future that humans drove cars, even while exhausted and drunk!"



The concept of creating an autonomous taxi service has been under consideration at Tesla for at least eight years, going back to when Musk wrote a second version of his "master plan" for the company. In recent months, Musk has turned his attention to this project instead of focusing on developing an electric vehicle cheaper than Tesla’s most affordable car, the Model 3 sedan.

Current state: Despite its potential, the rollout of self-driving vehicles in the United States has been tentative and rocky as both regulators and the public voice safety concerns. Tesla's ‘autopilot’ feature has also faced scrutiny, with allegations that its marketing exaggerated the capabilities of the feature beyond what it can deliver.

Competitors: San Francisco has served as a testing location for this technology. Robotaxis from Google's Waymo in the city have been targeted by vandals opposed to autonomous vehicles. Cruise, owned by GM, halted its robotaxi service indefinitely in late October following multiple accidents that prompted stricter oversight by California regulators.