Elon Musk is set to unveil Tesla’s Robotaxi. Will it be on the road this time?
The announcement comes after Elon Musk’s faulty predictions that a driverless Tesla was just around the corner. The event, held at Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Calif. is crucial for the company as it faces increased competition from Chinese and established automakers. Musk has staked Tesla’s future on self-driving technology, saying in an earnings call this summer that “the value of Tesla, overwhelmingly, is autonomy.”
Musk has a history of technological feats, includingreusable rockets and speedy internet service from space. Musk and Tesla did not respond to requests for comment. Musk and Tesla did not respond to requests for comment.
The promise
Musk told Fortune magazine in December 2015 that Tesla was just two years away from achieving full autonomy, though he said it might take longer for regulators to approve it.
The reality
Nearly nine years later, Tesla vehicles on the road still rely on their human drivers. Tesla has ambitiously branded driver assistance features called Full Self-Driving and Autopilot, but the company insists that the person at the wheel should always be alert and prepared to take control. Last year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ordered Tesla’s largest recall after an investigation found that controls on Autopilot’s steering function “may not be sufficient to prevent driver misuse” in certain circumstances.
In a January regulatory filing, Tesla said it “regularly” receives requests from regulators and governmental authorities, including the Justice Department and SEC. The company said it is cooperating with the requests and “to our knowledge no government agency in any ongoing investigation has concluded that any wrongdoing occurred.”
The promise
Musk claimed in June 2016 at a conference hosted by Recode that Tesla vehicles could drive themselves more safely than a person while discussing the future of highway driving.
The reality
Eight years later, regulators still have not approved Tesla’s consumer vehicles for fully autonomous driving and several lawsuits have pushed back on the company’s autonomy claims. The company settled the case in 2018 for $5 million. A 2017 class-action suit called Autopilot “essentially ineffective and demonstrably unsafe.” The driver is not involved. In one case, a Tesla engineer testified that a team had specifically mapped out the route the car would take in the video. Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, said at a company investor event in April 2019, that Tesla would soon have a fleet robotaxis operating. The company is behind rivals such as Alphabet-owned Waymo, which is operating a driverless ride-hailing service using modified electric SUVs in major cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix.
Tesla’s robotaxi is widely expected to eschew normal features on a car, such as a steering wheel and gas pedal. According to the agency, as of Oct. 4, the company has not applied for a permit. As of Oct. 4, the company has still not applied for a permit, according to the agency.
The promise
Musk tweeted in May 2020 that Tesla would raise the price tag of its Full Self-Driving upgrade as it got closer to regulatory approval for autonomous driving, and eventually the software would be potentially worth more than $100,000.
The reality
Musk’s post was part of a thread in which he encouraged people to buy a Tesla online because prices would soon rise for FSD, its most advanced driver assistance technology, which then cost about $7,000. FSD was initially priced at $15,000, but it has since dropped to $99 per month, or $8,000, which is far less than $100,000. Musk confirmed an earlier Bloomberg News report that said the robotaxi event had been delayed a few month later. He said that he would be “astonished” if the company showed off anything more than a “snazzy demo” at Thursday’s event. Musk said in a July 20, 2024 earnings call, that the regulatory approval of Tesla’s robotaxi was not a concern to him. He believed that regulators were “morally bound” to approve it if the vehicle proved safer than an actual driver. NHTSA says that all companies who want to sell or operate a “noncompliant” vehicle — such as the one Musk will propose, which is without a pedal or steering wheel — “must first apply to NHTSA for an exemption before they can begin operations on public roads.” The company took over a full year to get the exemption. Musk’s vision could be hindered by the regulatory approvals required to deploy robotaxis. Tesla may be poised to bring about a major shift in the industry. But if shareholders are left disappointed — once again — doubts about the company’s future could grow.
Faiz Siddiqui contributed to this report.
Illustration by the Washington Post; Elizabeth Frantz For The Washington Post; Getty Images; Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Editing by Tom Simonite, Karly Domb Sadof and Betty Chavarria.
