Yahoo Autos Tesla Will Reportedly Reveal Its Robotaxi on October 10th
During an investor day presentation back in April 2019, Tesla CEO Elon Musk claimed that the brand would have one million robotaxis on the road by 2020. More than five years after that lofty claim was made, the brand has exactly zero self-driving robot taxis on the streets — but according to a new report, Tesla finally has a plan to reveal its dedicated autonomous taxi concept on October 10th.
According to a report from Automotive News, the announcement will be made at an event at the Warner Brothers studio lot in Los Angeles, California. Details on what will be included in the launch are scarce, but the choice of venue provides a hint. The Warner Bros. lot contains a network of interconnected, private roads, making it the ideal spot to demonstrate the functionalities of the product without dealing with any issues of being on the public streets.
The announcement would be the culmination of nearly a decade of claims about autonomous driving and related features by Musk, but a product reveal is still not an actual product launch. Tesla famously took deposits from potential owners when it revealed its latest sports car as a concept in 2017; that car, the second-generation Roadster, still remains just a concept seven years later.
The October 10th announcement, which was shifted from an initial planned date of August 8th, will come eight years after Tesla first shared a video showcasing its self-driving technology. (Testimony from a Tesla employee in 2023 revealed that the video was "partially staged.")
Tesla has long made semi-autonomous driving aid technology available to owners. The brand's ADAS suite, deceptively called "Autopilot" and "Full Self-Driving," has remained a source of controversy throughout the 2020s. 362,000 cars equipped with the technology were recalled in 2023, and a new report in the Associated Press just last raised further questions about the effectiveness of the technology.
Although a product reveal would be a welcome sign (especially for invest0rs, as much of Tesla' valuation is based on Musk's promises of self-driving cars), Tesla will not be the first brand to showcase plans to roll out a purpose-built robotaxi this year. Verne, an autonomous taxi company created by the founders of supercar manufacturer Rimac, revealed a completed autonomous taxi concept in June. That announcement included details about the brand's app, as well plans to actually start operating the service in specific cities starting in 2026.
Elsewhere, other companies are already offering driver-less taxi services within American cities. A GM-affiliated start-up called Cruise even offered autonomous rides in Tesla's adopted home town of Austin, but the brand stopped operating in Texas shortly after it received orders to halt its business in San Francisco in 2023. Other brands still operate in the U.S., including Waymo units that apparently have been known to honk at each other while they park in San Francisco.
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