Robotaxis by 2020
In 2019, Musk made quite a prediction about the future of robotaxis.
“I feel very confident predicting autonomous robotaxis for Tesla next year. Not in all jurisdictions because we won’t have regulatory approval everywhere. But I’m confident we will have at least regulatory approval somewhere literally next year,” Musk said back in April 2019.
But that wasn’t all. Musk said owning anything but a Tesla by 2022 would be like owning a horse because only Tesla would have the autonomous driving software required to deliver next-level capabilities.
“If you buy a car that does not have the hardware for full self-driving, it is like buying a horse,” Musk said. “And the only car that has the hardware for full self-driving is a Tesla.”
Musk is still reportedly working on robotaxis behind the scenes. The Tesla CEO has even promised to unveil a robotaxi in August. But there’s a pretty wide consensus that whatever Musk shows off to the world won’t be a commercial robotaxi service anytime soon.
Plenty of other companies have been developing robotaxis—like Cruise and Waymo—but with trials and tribulations that have caused the companies to shut down for extended periods of time following crashes and scandals. Robotaxis are hard, and it’s entirely possible Musk could be the one to finally deliver them at scale. But we’ll believe it when we see it.
