Tesla’s robotaxi event is delayed until October

A long-awaited Tesla event showcasing a robotaxi platform is being delayed from August until sometime in October, Bloomberg reports. The news has only been shared inside the company so far, according to sources, who add that the design team working on prototypes was told it had to rework some elements. More prototype vehicles are also said to be needed before the event can go off.

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CEO Elon Musk originally teased the robotaxi showcase in April 2024, when he set an August 8 target date. But little else has been heard about the event since, which may mean that the date was a hopeful projection on Musk’s part rather than based on formulated plans. The executive is known to sometimes make claims in public that his own workers aren’t prepared for, such as the second-generation Roadster — still unreleased — being faster than first intended.

Technical hurdles are standard fare in the self-driving car industry, however. While there are already robotaxis operating in US cities like Phoenix and San Francisco, even those are dealing with occasional navigation problems, such as being overly cautious or stopping when they shouldn’t. With private vehicles, meanwhile, Tesla’s own Full Self-Driving feature has sometimes been criticized as unreliable and deployed to owners too early.

What will the Tesla robotaxi look like?

We won’t know for sure until the press event, especially since the robotaxi program has been in flux. Tesla at one point wanted its taxi and $25,000 “Model 2” to share the same platform, but comments from Musk suggest the taxi is now being purpose-built, possibly ditching a steering wheel entirely. Even the fate of the Model 2 is unknown — while Musk has denied claims that the project was canceled, building a quality EV under $30,000 — and often $40,000, for that matter — has been a major challenge for US automakers.

Complicating the situation are the massive layoffs Musk ordered earlier in 2024, impacting over 10% of Tesla’s workforce. Maximum manufacturing automation is a goal of the company, but some of the people forced out were on the company’s design and engineering teams.