In April, Elon Musk tweeted that Tesla’s first robotaxis would be unveiled on August 8. Ultimately, that event was postponed to October 10. The exact reasons for the delay are unclear, though the billionaire has offered some hints on his social media platform X. “I’ve asked for what I think is a significant design change up front, and the extra time will allow us to demo a few other things,” he said in July, in response to a video posted by a user.
“Maybe Elon Musk has realized that a robotaxi without a steering wheel or pedals doesn’t make sense without sophisticated driving software, and Tesla’s FSD isn’t,” speculates Marc Amblard, founder of Orsay Consulting, while stressing that it’s hard to know what the billionaire is thinking. The Tesla boss has been promising for several years that his company will unveil fully autonomous driving software imminently. Its most advanced software, called Full Self Driving (FSD), has come a long way in recent years, but it’s still not capable of replacing humans behind the wheel.
