- Tesla’s robotaxi, expected to launch in August, will rely on the automaker’s “pure” artificial intelligence-based Full Self-Driving technology.
- CEO Elon Musk encourages shoppers to test-drive FSD version 12.3, ignoring an ongoing National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation.
- Tesla plans an Airbnb-type service in which the automaker would contract with interested Tesla owners running FSD version 12.4 to offer their cars for robotaxi fares.
While Tesla CEO Elon Musk isn’t speaking directly to plans for a $25,000 Model 2, he is promoting the company’s robotaxi, which will launch in August.
The robotaxi will rely on Tesla’s “pure” artificial intelligence-based Full Self-Driving technology. Tesla has just cut FSD’s price to $99 a month, Musk said, available on any model equipped with third-generation hardware or newer.
“If you haven’t experienced this, I urge you to try it out,” Musk said of FSD version 12. “It’s profound.”
Teslas are currently running FSD version 12.3, with 12.4 on its way to market. For about a decade Musk has been touting Tesla’s Autopilot, which was a precursor to FSD. Musk calls FSD the industry’s most advanced autonomous driving technology, using “neural” networks and backed by more than 3 billion accumulated miles of consumer testing, but no cameras or LIDAR.
Musk told analysts on a first-quarter earnings call that Tesla is “in conversation with one major automaker” to license FSD. He said later that all major automakers will need to adapt FSD, comparing driving non-EV, non-autonomous cars to riding a horse and using a flip-phone.
If you’re considering Tesla common stock (which also is available for a deep discount from its share price at the beginning of the year) you should first test-drive FSD 12.3, Musk said.
This ignores an ongoing National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation, as well as Tesla’s early April out-of-court settlement with the family of Apple engineer Walter Huang, whose Tesla Model X veered fatally off-course after Autopilot was engaged for nearly 19 minutes, according to a National Transportation Safety Board investigation.
The car struck a concrete freeway barrier at 71 mph, killing Huang. Terms of the settlement from the March 2019 crash made just prior to jury selection for the Huang family’s lawsuit were not disclosed.
Tesla plans an Airbnb-type service in which the automaker would contract with interested Tesla owners running FSD version 12.4 to offer their cars for robotaxi fares.
Like an Airbnb property owner, the Tesla owners could pull their vehicles from robotaxi duty when they need to use them personally.
Musk also wants to harness the AI computational power of Teslas when they are not on the road.
“It would seem like a waste not to use it,” he said, and noted that this could become the biggest part of the automaker’s business, like Amazon’s web service, AWS.
Tesla reported adjusted income before accounting for income taxes of $3.4 billion in the first quarter, 21% lower than Q1 of 2023. Total automotive revenue for the quarter was $17.4 billion, a 13% drop year-over-year.
Do you share Elon Musk’s confidence in Tesla’s autonomous Full Self-Driving technology? Please comment below.
As a kid growing up in Metro Milwaukee, Todd Lassa impressed childhood friends with his ability to identify cars on the street by year, make, and model. But when American automakers put an end to yearly sheetmetal changes, Lassa turned his attention toward underpowered British sports cars with built-in oil leaks. After a varied early journalism career, he joined Autoweek, then worked in Motor Trend’s and Automobile’s Detroit bureaus, before escaping for Mountain Maryland with his wife, three dogs, three sports cars (only one of them British), and three bicycles. Lassa is founding editor of thehustings.news, which has nothing to do with cars.
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