After years of talking up Tesla’s self-driving prowess, Elon Musk is set to host a much-hyped robotaxi event on Thursday amid a mix of anticipation and skepticism.
The Tesla CEO has so far offered few details about what exactly will be revealed at Thursday’s “We, Robot” event at Warner Brothers Studios in Los Angeles.
Tesla watchers expect the company to unveil a prototype of its robotaxi, intended for autonomous transportation.
Other companies, such as Google’s Waymo and General Motors Cruise, have been running heavily regulated pilot programs for a few years.
Musk, who has become a staunch supporter of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, has insisted that Tesla’s offering will be the best autonomous vehicle on the market, even if it is not the first.
Musk pushed back the date of the event, originally scheduled for August, “to make some major changes that I think would improve the vehicle,” he said in July, adding that Tesla would show “two other things” in addition to robot taxi.
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He dismissed regulatory questions about a technology venture that has so far been seen only in limited territory and remains invisible to most of the public.
“Once we show that something is safe enough or significantly safer than human, we find that regulators support the development of that capability,” Musk said in July.
Musk has a history of making bold predictions about autonomous vehicles, saying that conventional cars will one day be as obsolete as a horse and buggy.
However, Tesla’s CEO has repeatedly pushed back the timetable for self-driving technology, after previously predicting the company would achieve the breakthrough by 2018.
Some are taking a wait-and-see approach to Thursday’s Tesla event.
“We believe large-scale Tesla robotaxi deployment is unlikely within the next few years,” said a note from UBS last month.
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“That’s not to say that Tesla isn’t making technological progress, but Tesla has to show that the technology is ready and safe, deal with a myriad of local regulations and (potentially) figure out the logistics and operations of a transportation network company.”
On the upside, Wedbush predicted Thursday’s event will be a “significant and historic day” for Tesla, ushering in a “new chapter of growth” for autonomous technology.
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Boosters of self-driving have said the technology could lead to fewer accidents, arguing it will offer greater freedom to people who are older or physically disabled.
Cruise and Waymo began operating in San Francisco in 2021 — though Cruise shut down its driving program in San Francisco in late 2023 after an accident.
However, the company resumed operations in Arizona in April under a service that includes a driver as a backup. GM has said it is suspending the driverless version pending approval by speed regulators.
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Meanwhile, Alphabet-owned Waymo opened the service to the general public in June after previously limiting availability.
Operating modified Jaguar vehicles, Waymo now offers services comparable to those of Uber or Lyft. Aside from some locals who use the service in San Francisco, the vehicles have become a tourist attraction.
Waymo has more than 700 vehicles in its fleet, with about 300 in San Francisco and the rest in Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Austin, Texas, where it has added services, the company said.
On the July earnings conference call, Musk said Tesla’s efforts will ultimately prove superior to those of rivals.
He said GM was “blaming the regulators” for technology that was “not up to par.” Musk said Waymo’s technology was “pretty fragile” and couldn’t scale because it was a “very local solution.”
Tesla’s venture, by contrast, is a “generic solution that works anywhere,” Musk said. “It would even work on a different earth.”
Source: AFP