Tesla postpones Robotaxi to October, but makes progress on FSD

The unveiling of the new model is thought to be months away. Meanwhile, the company works on autonomous driving 12.5 and updates the Model 3

Tesla October robotaxi

Photo by: InsideEVs

By: Francesco Barontini

Published by: Brian Potter

Jul 13, 2024 at 5:21am ET

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It sounded too good to be true. Elon Musk had said that the Robotaxi would be unveiled on 8 August, and everyone hoped that Tesla would show this revolutionary self-driving vehicle by then, or at least release some interesting information.

Instead, as is all too often the case, it is postponed until a later date. At least, that is what Bloomberg says, which was informed by sources close to the matter. As partial consolation, Musk has let it be known through an X post that Full Self-Driving is making progress and that with version 12.5 it will be able to manage the transition from a motorway to an urban scenario more smoothly. Back to the Robotaxi, however.

The FSD is not yet ready

Tesla has been saying for years that it wants to offer a driverless ride-hailing service to rival Uber, Lyft and Waymo. In April it therefore announced that it was ready to show an electric vehicle designed specifically for this purpose. The Robotaxi - or Cybercab, as it seems this new model will be called - must however wait for the autonomous driving software to finish development. But even on this front, delays are no longer being counted.

Tesla presents Full Self Driving at AI Day

This is how Tesla's Full Self Driving sees the road

And so, the vehicle also slips. The indiscretion cost the share price dearly, which lost 6% in one day on the stock market before partially recovering. The fact is that Tesla's approach of only wanting to use cameras to manage driverless driving is seen as wrong by some experts, and it is believed that this is precisely why Tesla is failing to fine-tune the technology definitively.

Even, with version 12.4.3, many users complain that Teslas on the motorway no longer maintain the centre of the roadway, but tend to 'bounce' from side to side. A misstep that should be resolved with version 12.5, the release of which is imminent and will bring a number of advantages.

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A new Model 3 long range

If the Robotaxi slips, the Model 3 gets a makeover. For now only in the United States, where a rear-wheel drive Long Range version appears that costs $5,000 (£3,900) less than the four-wheel drive version. The car is in fact $42,490 (£32,800 euros), but drops to $34,990 (£27,000) by taking advantage of federal tax credits.

The new Model 3 has a range of 363 miles according to the EPA cycle used in the US and sprints from 0 to 62 mph in just 4.9 sseconds. The car comes in an attempt to give a boost to Tesla's sales, which have fallen by 5% in the last period. We wait to see if it will also be available in Europe.