Tesla robotaxi: Why a small delay is having big consequences

Tesla will delay the debut of its self-driving robotaxi by about two months according to an internal report obtained by Bloomberg.

The robotaxi timeline

• While Musk has been discussing the possibility of a fully self-driving Tesla for years, the first official confirmation that the company was working on a robotaxi came this April. In a brief post on X, formerly known as Twitter, the CEO said the vehicle would be unveiled on August 8.

• That post seems to have been a partial response to a Reuters report from earlier in the week, which claimed that the company had canceled its affordable electric vehicle project to direct more resources toward robotaxi development. Musk denied the claim that Tesla had scrapped its cheap EV but has offered no update on the model’s status since.

• Yesterday, Bloomberg reported that Tesla would be postponing the reveal event for its robotaxi until October so that its engineering team would have more time to prepare. The company has yet to confirm the claim.

Musk is undeniably effective at building excitement around the company’s products, even handling the occasional stumble, such as the infamous broken window at the Cybertruck’s showcasing event, with irresistible charm. At the same time, the hype he builds, while invaluable to the brand’s current success, also lands the company in hot water.

Tesla’s self-driving controversy: For many years, the CEO has promised that autonomous vehicles were right around the corner. In 2019, for instance, he said that Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) service would be so effective that car owners could “go to sleep” at the wheel. But while FSD and its predecessor Autopilot are both impressive pieces of technology, they still only qualify as Level 2 systems, meaning they can only assist with certain tasks and need constant human supervision to keep drivers safe. Unfortunately, this fact hasn’t prevented several crashes involving the use of both platforms, a result that has landed Tesla in court multiple times over accusations of false advertising.

In short, Musk’s habit of exaggeration tends to exacerbate the damage relatively minor stumbles can cause, a consequence that the robotaxi delay clearly illustrates. Tesla’s share price tumbled 8% on Thursday after Bloomberg’s report.

Bottom line: In reality, a two-month delay for the company’s first fully self-driving car isn’t really surprising. If anything, it shows that Tesla is willing to prioritize quality over arbitrary deadlines, a sentiment you would hope is shared by every business developing a product as complex as autonomous vehicle technology. At the same time, Tesla shareholders have been misled many times before. This leaves the brand with an increasingly short leash to make mistakes and intensifies the consequences of its mishaps.

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