Yesterday, we covered Tesla boss Elon Musk refuting a Reuters report that the company is canceling its affordable EV. Musk also said that Tesla will be unveiling robotaxis this summer.
Just about every vehicle Tesla has launched has been delayed — the Cybertruck is the best example of this. Some of this pertains to the difficulty of launching a new vehicle. Even the legacy OEMs with decades (and in some cases, centuries) of experience building cars at scale sometimes delay product launches — so it’s not unreasonable for a small startup, even one that’s been in business as long as Tesla has, to struggle.
On the other hand, Musk has been (often credibly, IMO) accused of talking a big game to inflate the stock price.
So there are essentially, as I see it, three possibilities here. One: Tesla has robotaxis ready to go in August, as promised. Two: The company works hard to make the deadline and just can’t get it done. Three: Musk is hyping a product to pump the stock, it won’t be ready on time, and Musk will act as if that’s just an understandable delay but really he was never planning to have robotaxis ready for early August.
Being a skeptic when it comes to automaker promises in general and Musk/Tesla specifically, I am betting on number three or perhaps number two. I don’t foresee scenario number one coming true.
Hey, I could be wrong — that’s an occupational hazard when making predictions. But I’d be shocked if so.
What say you?
Sound off below.
[Image: Frederic Legrand – COMEO/Shutterstock.com]
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