Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, attends the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, on June 16, 2023.
Gonzalo Fuentes | Reuters
Tesla X will unveil its robotaxi product on August 8, CEO Elon Musk said in a social media post on X.
Musk has talked about the robotaxi project for years, and it could represent big new business for the automaker as investors grow wary of the company during a period of slow growth.
Tesla shares rose more than 3% in extended trading after Musk's tweet.
Musk shared the reveal date on Friday after Reuters reported that plans for Tesla's long-awaited low-cost car model had been cancelled. Musk accused Reuters of “lying.”
In 2015, Elon Musk told shareholders that Tesla cars would achieve “full autonomy” within three years. In 2016, he said that Tesla would be able to send one of its cars on a cross-country trip without needing any human intervention by the end of the following year.
Tesla has yet to deliver a robotaxi, a self-driving vehicle, or technology that can turn its cars into “Level 3” automated vehicles. However, Tesla does offer advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), including a standard Autopilot option or a premium Full Self-Driving “FSD” option, the latter of which costs $199 per month for US subscribers or $12,000 up front.
In an effort to achieve end-of-quarter sales, Musk recently tasked all sales and service employees with installing and demonstrating the FSD to customers before handing over the keys. He wrote in an email to employees, “Almost no one actually realizes how well (supervised) FSD works. I know this will slow down the delivery process, but it is a difficult requirement nonetheless.”
Despite its name, Tesla's premium option requires a human driver at the wheel, ready to steer or brake at a moment's notice.
Alphabet's Waymo self-driving vehicle unit operates commercial driverless ride-hailing services in Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles, and is ramping up activity at Tesla's home base in Austin, Texas. Waymo also recently entered into a multi-year partnership with Uber and will use its robotaxis for food delivery use for Uber Eats in Arizona. In China, Didi's standalone unit operates commercially in markets including Guangzhou. Companies, including Wayve in the UK and Zoox in the US, continue to test their robotaxis.
Some companies have had a tough time in the crowded market.
Apple on Friday closed its self-driving unit and laid off about 600 people on Friday who were linked to the project. General Motors' cruise service previously offered self-driving car services in San Francisco before coming under regulatory scrutiny after an accident. Since the accident, Cruise's robo-taxi fleet has been grounded, local and federal governments have launched their own investigations and Cruise's leadership has been destroyed.
At Tesla, “reveal” dates do not predict an imminent commercial release date for a new product. For example, Tesla unveiled its all-electric heavy-duty truck, the Semi, in 2017 and didn't begin deliveries until December 2022. It still produces and sells very few Semis to this day.
— CNBC's Kev Leswing contributed reporting.
