Tesla finally took the wraps off their highly anticipated robotaxi on Thursday night, giving us a glimpse into the future of autonomous driving. We will have to wait a while to buy one though, as production won’t begin until some time in 2026.
The event started almost an hour later than originally planned, but there was a good reason for it as there was a person in the crowd who had a medical emergency. Once that was cleared, Tesla wasted no time in showing off the robotaxi, with the event starting with Elon Musk catching a ride in one across the Warner Bros. Studio set to the main stage.
Robotaxi pic.twitter.com/zVJ9v9yXNr
— Tesla (@Tesla) October 11, 2024
Once Musk was on stage we learned more about the robotaxi. Musk confirmed it has no steering wheel or pedals and will be fully autonomous with Full Self-Driving (Unsupervised). Tesla called the robotaxi “premium point-to-point transportation,” estimating it will be the most affordable and cheapest to operate, with Musk estimating the cost to operate around US$0.20 per mile.
It was also confirmed the robotaxi will have no charge port and will instead feature wireless inductive charging, something we know Tesla has been working on for a number of years. Unfortunately, Tesla only shared this very brief (~1 sec) glimpse of the inductive charging, spending most of the time for this segment showing the robotaxi being vacuumed and cleaned by a robot.
Musk then spoke about FSD (Unsupervised), the software that will power the robotaxi, saying that he expects Tesla to begin using the software on other Tesla vehicles (S/3/X/Y/Cybertruck) first in California and Texas in 2025. Musk said the use of the software would expand to other regions of the US, and the world, pending regulatory approval. Tesla is presumably still working on getting that approval in California and Texas, but Musk appears confident it will happen in those states next year.
As for when the robotaxi will launch, it will be a while. Musk said an optimistic timeline will be in 2026, before saying that it will be before 2027, so in a little over two years from now. The robotaxi will be available for anyone to purchase, with Musk predicating it will cost less than US$30,000.
Tesla has not opened up reservations for the robotaxi, but has added a new page to their website, but there are basically no details about it.
Once the event was over, Tesla has 20 robotaxis, as well as some Model Ys, all driving around fully autonomously, with attendees allowed to catch rides across the Warner Bros. Studios set.
You can watch a replay of the unveiling below.
