Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Monday that the automaker will take more time to roll out its self-driving taxis so it can make important design changes to the front of the vehicles and “show off” a few other things.
Musk did not say when the automaker would hold an event to unveil the robotaxis. Bloomberg News reported last week that the event, originally scheduled for August, has been postponed to October.
“Requesting what I consider important design changes to the front, the extra time allows us to show off some other things,” Musk said in a reply to a user post on X discussing the incident.
A person familiar with the matter said on Friday that the robotaxi event had been postponed, without elaborating further.
Wall Street analysts and Tesla investors noted that delays in the rollout of robotaxis are not surprising as the road to developing robotaxis and self-driving systems faces several engineering and regulatory hurdles.
Musk announced the August unveiling after Reuters reported on April 5 that Tesla had canceled its long-promised affordable car and would continue developing self-driving robotaxis on the same small vehicle platform.
So far, the billionaire CEO has revealed only minimal details about the robotaxis. He simply said that some vehicles will be owned and operated by Tesla, while others will be owned by individuals but rented out on Tesla’s network.
Tesla shares surged on Monday after Musk publicly endorsed Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential race, raising hopes that the Trump administration might make it easier for Tesla to win regulatory approval for robotaxis and self-driving systems.
After repeatedly failing to achieve self-driving car goals, Musk said in 2022 that Tesla expected to mass-produce robotaxis without steering wheels or pedals by 2024.
Tesla shares were up 5% in afternoon trading.
© Thomson Reuters 2024
