Tesla has postponed the highly anticipated unveiling of its “robotaxi” design from August 8 to October, according to Bloomberg News. The delay is attributed to the need for additional time to complete the prototypes.
Elon Musk confirmed the delay on Monday, July 15, adding that he had requested an important design change to the front of the robotaxi and wanted extra time to showcase additional features.
Stock Takes a Hit
The delay impacted Tesla’s stock, which fell 8% on Thursday. This ended an 11-day rally driven by strong second-quarter deliveries. Tesla’s stock is now back in negative territory for 2024, a year marked by widespread layoffs and declining sales, partly due to an aging lineup of electric vehicles and intensified competition in China.
Tesla’s Previous Announcements and Plans
Tesla CEO Elon Musk first hinted at the robotaxi event in April, coinciding with a Reuters report suggesting that Tesla was abandoning plans for a new, cost-effective vehicle built on a next-generation platform, priced around $25,000. Musk refuted this claim on his social media platform X.
Internally, Tesla had aimed to construct both the dedicated robotaxi and the $25,000 car, often referred to as the Model 2 by enthusiasts, on the same platform.
However, Musk has shown inconsistency in his plans, fluctuating between developing a new vehicle with traditional controls and fully committing to the robotaxi concept.
In the weeks following the robotaxi event announcement, Musk reduced Tesla’s global workforce by over 10% and emphasized the company’s aggressive push towards autonomy.
Musk’s History of Promises
He has a history of ambitious promises regarding Tesla’s autonomous capabilities, dating back to 2015 when he predicted full autonomy within three years.
In 2016, Musk claimed Tesla cars would be capable of cross-country drives without human intervention by the end of the following year. These promises continued into 2019, with Musk stating that Tesla would have one million robotaxi-ready vehicles on the road by 2020. However, the company has yet to deliver a fully autonomous vehicle or the technology to achieve “level 3” automation.
Meanwhile, competitors like Alphabet’s Waymo and General Motors’ Cruise have made significant advancements in autonomous vehicle technology, outpacing Tesla in the robotaxi race.
Reiterating His Vision for Tesla
Despite these delays, Musk reaffirmed his vision of Tesla as a company focused on developing robotaxis that will generate income for their owners and support a driverless transportation network. “If somebody doesn’t believe Tesla’s going to solve autonomy, I think they should not be an investor in the company,” Musk stated on the first-quarter earnings call in April.
Tesla is scheduled to report its second-quarter results later this month.
It is important to note that Tesla’s product unveiling dates often precede actual product releases by years. For instance, Tesla unveiled its fully electric heavy-duty truck, the Semi, in 2017, but deliveries did not begin until December 2022.
Update, July 12: Added details from Elon Musk’s confirmation regarding the delay of the robotaxi event to October.
Featured Image courtesy of Marc Piasecki/Getty Images
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