Elon Musk promises surprises at the robotaxi launch event, which will take place in October 2024.
Elon Musk wouldn’t be Elon Musk without unrealistic deadline announcements. For years, the Tesla boss has been setting untenable deadlines that cause delays in projects. This is still the case with his autonomous taxi or robotaxi, which will be presented later than expected.
To get rid of rumors, Elon Musk had initially set a date for August 8, 2024 to discover Tesla’s new (improbable) project. But, at the beginning of July, the launch of the robotaxi was postponed, according to internal rumors collected by Bloomberg. A few days later, a response from Elon Musk on X confirmed a postponement. Then, the information was made official during the financial results conference of the 2nd quarter which was held on July 23. The event should therefore normally take place on October 10 (on “10/10” instead of “08/08”).
During the conference on July 23, Elon Musk also specified that the robotaxi would not be the only surprise of the event.
The reasons for the postponement of Cybertaxi / robotaxi
Elon Musk had already given the reason for the robotaxi’s delay on his social network X (formerly Twitter), but he confirmed it to investors during the conference on July 23. The Tesla boss wanted to change some elements of the vehicle’s design and make a few other improvements before the official launch.
The way it is presented remains surprising to say the least: “ It’s because I wanted to make some major changes that I think would improve the vehicle… the sort of… the Robotaxi… the thing… the main thing that we’re going to show. »
A little later in the discussions, he finally called ” the thing ” by the name Cybertaxi, indicating that it will be produced at the Texas gigafactory. This could also confirm a Cybertruck-style design.
Other surprises for 2025 presented in October?
« We won’t go into too much detail about the product roadmap here, as that is reserved for product announcement events. “, Elon Musk said to avoid questions about what Tesla has in store for the coming months. This phrase is quite recurrent at financial conferences. This does not prevent the Tesla boss from leaving a few crumbs lying around to capture attention.
He said in particular: ” We are on track to deliver a more affordable model in the first half of next year. » New model or simply a more affordable version of the Model Y (Juniper version), we will have to wait to find out.
It is above all a small sentence, slipped in after the explanation of the postponement of the robotaxi, which attracts attention. Elon Musk indicated that the postponement of the launch of the robotaxi to October will allow Tesla to show other things. This announcement recalls the “one more thing” of Apple or Xiaomi.
The downside with Elon Musk is that he remains vague enough that we can imagine the arrival of a new Optimus, a new vehicle or a “revolutionary” technical element. We will have to wait until October to find out for sure.
Tesla Roadster: The Return of Vengeance, Episode 18
Elon Musk is particularly used to announcing the release of the Tesla Roadster for the following year. This conference did not escape this tradition, since the Tesla boss was asked about the progress of the project.
Asked about the current status of the Roadster in the company’s plans, Elon Musk replied: ” We have completed most of the engineering. I think there are still some improvements to be made, but we plan to go into production with Roadster next year. It will be something special. As will the whole project. »
There is a feeling of déjà vu. No doubt Elon Musk will manage to surprise us one day by actually making official this model that fans are dreaming of.
Elon Musk used to say too much at his financial conferences. Now he only gives a few crumbs to keep us waiting. A subject to follow in the long term in our weekly newsletter Watt Else.
Source: www.numerama.com
