Tesla postpones Robotaxi event in blow to Musk’s autonomy

(Bloomberg) — Tesla Inc. is delaying its planned launch of its robotaxi until October to allow teams working on the project more time to build additional prototypes, according to people familiar with the decision.

Bloomberg’s Most Read

The roughly two-month delay was communicated internally, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information has not been publicly announced. The design team was told this week to rework certain elements of the car, one of the people said.

Listen and subscribe to Elon, Inc. on Apple, Spotify, iHeart and the Bloomberg Terminal.

CEO Elon Musk set the August 8 start date for the event months ago, and optimism about the spectacle contributed to an 11-day winning streak that added more than $257 billion to Tesla’s market capitalization. Shares closed down 8.4% on Thursday, the biggest drop since January.

Musk did not respond to requests for comment.

Shares of would-be taxi rivals Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. rose on the news. Uber shares rose 6.1% on Thursday. Lyft shares jumped 4.6%.

The idea of ​​creating an autonomous taxi service has been floating around Tesla for years, dating back at least to when Musk wrote a second “master plan” for the company in 2016. The CEO has prioritized the project in recent months over working on a vehicle. cheaper than Tesla’s most affordable car, the Model 3 sedan.

Musk has been talking about Tesla’s work in autonomous vehicle technology for more than a decade and has convinced customers to pay thousands of dollars for a set of features the company markets as Full Self-Driving, or FSD. The name is a misnomer — FSD requires constant supervision and doesn’t make Teslas autonomous — but Musk and top engineers have been increasingly optimistic about FSD in recent months as sales of the company’s vehicles have slowed.

Tesla delivered 6.6% fewer cars in the first half of the year, despite the company adding a new model – the Cybertruck – to its lineup. The automaker also produced 14% fewer vehicles in the second quarter than a year earlier to help reduce inventory growth.

–With assistance from Dana Wollman.

(Updates actions, Musk no comments in fourth paragraph.)

Bloomberg Businessweek Most Read

The story continues

©2024 Bloomberg LP