Despite Several Notable Delays, Tesla Says Robotaxi Will Debut Oct. 10

• Full Self Driving is key to the robotaxi and Tesla’s planned “Airbnb for cars” rideshare program.

• “It will be a Tesla network,” Musk said of the planned ride-hailing service. “We will have a fleet on the order of 7 million.” They will operate 24/7, he said.

• Tesla’s financial results released Tuesday disappointed investors. Automotive revenues fell 7% for the quarter versus Q2 2023, to $19.878 billion.

Tesla will reveal its long-awaited robotaxi on Oct. 10, CEO Elon Musk told Wall Street analysts in the company’s second-quarter earnings call.

“I want to make sure it includes some changes that will improve” the robotaxi, Musk said, adding that he did not want the earnings call to become a product launch announcement.

But it kind of did.

Musk said the automaker is developing an “affordable” Tesla model to be available for delivery in the first half of 2025. The under-$30k EV, probably a hatchback, has been on and off again several times over the past few years.

The October Tesla show will feature four product reveals, including the robotaxi, Musk said. The Roadster sports car model could be one of them, though the CEO himself admitted to being overly optimistic about dates for coming products.

“We expect to be in production with the Roadster next year,” he said. “It will be something special.”

Tesla’s financial results released Tuesday disappointed investors. Automotive revenues fell 7% for the quarter versus Q2 2023, to $19.878 billion, and net income as counted by Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) fell 45% compared with the second quarter a year ago, to $1.478 billion.

Tesla’s common shares lost 2.04% Tuesday (the slide continued today), and Musk blamed pricing pressure from other automakers who had to cut EV prices as demand for electric vehicles leveled off.

Key to the robotaxi and Tesla’s planned “Airbnb for cars” rideshare program is Full Self Driving. Tesla is about to begin rolling out FSD version 12.5, which Musk said has “five times the parameters of 12.4,” allowing for fewer driver interventions.

In Q2, Tesla “rolled out a version of FSD (Supervised) that primarily relies on eye tracking software to monitor driver attentiveness,” the company’s investor deck states.

Musk reiterated that the value in Tesla stock comes from its autonomous technology, not its electric powertrain technology.

“Most people don’t know how good it is,” he said of FSD, adding that customers should “simply try it out.”

CFO Vaibhav Taneja said he has a 20-mile commute to work in Austin, Texas, every day and uses Full Self Driving with “no interventions.”

An investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of Autopilot, which predated Tesla’s full self-driving system, is ongoing.

One investment analyst noted that in General Motors’ second-quarter earnings call that morning, the company announced it has put the Cruise Origin dedicated autonomous robotaxi on “indefinite hold” and will test its full autonomy using next-generation, Ultium-based Chevrolet Bolts with pedals and steering wheels in order to meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS).

The analyst noted that photos of Tesla’s robotaxi indicates the vehicle operates without such controls.

“Obviously, the real reason that they canceled it (Origin) is that they just can’t make it work. Not because of regulators. They’re blaming regulators … um, that’s misleading for them to do so. Because Waymo is doing it just fine in those markets, so, it’s just because their technology is not up to par.”

Another analyst asked about the ride-hailing service Musk outlined in the first-quarter earnings call in April.

“You need a lot of cars,” the analyst said. Would these rolling Airbnbs be deployed by Tesla only, or will Tesla work with partners?

“It will be a Tesla network,” Musk responded. “We will have a fleet on the order of 7 million.” They will operate 24/7, he said, and Tesla would share revenue with this network of owners. He expects most of those 7 million or so owners will sign up for the deal.

Another analyst asked whether Tesla was worried about the effect of Donald J. Trump winning the presidential election November 5 and fulfilling his promise to rescind President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which includes tax credits for EV purchases.

Tesla doesn’t rely on such subsidies, Musk replied.

“I guess there would be some impact” on Tesla, he said. “But it would be devastating for our competitors.”

Long term, he concluded, it would help Tesla, as its competitors would fail to make the transition to electric power and ultimately become non-competitive. “The value of Tesla overwhelmingly is autonomy.”

Left unsaid but implied is that Trump’s oft-stated opposition to federal government regulation might be good for Tesla’s bottom line.

Musk, who has become more overt about his politics since acquiring Twitter, announced on the first day of the Republican National Convention July 15 he had formed a “Super PAC” (political action committee) with contributions to the Trump campaign.

Musk’s partners on the America PAC are Palantir Technologies co-founder Joe Lonsdale, the Winklevos Twins (of Facebook-cofounding fame), and Joe Craft, CEO of coal producer Alliance Resource Partner, along with his wife, former ambassador to Canada under the Trump administration, Kelly Craft.

Musk told psychologist and conservative commentator Dr. Jordan Peterson the report, initially in The Wall Street Journal, that the Super PAC was meant to contribute $45 million per month through the November 5 election to the Trump campaign is not true.

On Tuesday, Musk wrote on his social media platform X that he was donating to the PAC at much lower levels, and that “the key values of the PAC are supporting a meritocracy & individual freedom. Republicans are mostly, but not entirely, on the side of meritocracy & freedom.”

Meanwhile, The New York Times reports that the America PAC is being “quietly” guided by two former operatives from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign for the GOP presidential nomination, Generra Peck and Phil Cox.

Elon Musk talks about a fleet of 7 million ride-hailing Teslas. Would you potentially use that service? Please comment below.