Elon Musk: Tesla’s robot taxi will be unveiled soon.

According to Ecomotive, citing TechCrunch, Elon Musk announced the unveiling of a robot taxi by August 8 (August 18) shortly after Reuters’ news about the cancellation of Tesla’s $25,000 cheap electric car plans.

According to the Reuters report, this news agency was informed through several unnamed sources and Tesla’s internal documents about Tesla’s decision to cancel the low-cost electric car production program and develop a robot taxi based on the same low-cost electric car platform.

Just a few hours later, Elon Musk confirmed this in a tweet:

Development of robot taxi and cheap car in Tesla

According to reports, Tesla has been looking to develop cheap cars and self-driving taxis for years. However, Elon Musk hesitates between producing a normal car with gas pedal and steering wheel and a fully automatic car.

Mid-2022, Elon Musk has opposed the opinion of Tesla engineers to develop a car with pedals and a steering wheel. Even with the official cancellation of this program, Tesla’s chief engineers kept the program of a more traditional car with a steering wheel and gas and brake pedals alive in the shadows.

For years, Elon Musk has promised a fully self-driving car. At least since 2016, he had promised a car that could drive off-road by the end of 2017. This did not happen. The autonomous robot taxi production program did not happen until 2020. Finally, the taxi development plan was pushed back until 2024.

Currently, all Tesla cars come standard with a driver assistance system. By paying an additional amount, car owners can activate the possibility of FSD or fully self-driving cars. However, in reality, this possibility does not allow automatic driving without human intervention. Rather, it is a set of capabilities that allow the car to be controlled in a limited way (moving between lanes, leaving the road and moving on city roads) and requiring constant preparation of the driver.