Elon Musk says Tesla robotaxis will be mass-produced in 2024, cost less than a bus ticket

[midian182]

Forward-looking: Elon Musk has taken a break from his Twitter saga to talk about Tesla's plans for its self-driving robotaxi. The CEO said the vehicles, which lack steering wheels and pedals, will be mass-produced in 2024 and cost less per mile than a bus ticket.

Speaking at Tesla's first-quarter earnings call, Musk said the robotaxi would reach volume production in two years and "be a massive driver of Tesla's growth." That timeframe is pretty optimistic, given the number of regulatory hurdles the vehicles will doubtlessly face.

Musk added that the robotaxis would offer the lowest cost-per-mile that customers have ever experienced, less than a bus ticket—a subsidized bus ticket—or a subsidized subway ticket. The world's richest person also said they are highly optimized for autonomy and will have no steering wheels or pedals.

The service will be going up against rival robotaxi developers such as Alphabet-owned Waymo, GM-owned Cruise, and Argo AI, some of which have been testing their services for years. Musk said that Tesla could reveal more about its project sometime in 2023.

The woke mind virus is making Netflix unwatchable

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 20, 2022

Musk is rarely out of the headlines these days for reasons unrelated to Tesla. Following news of Netflix's first subscriber loss in a decade and its willingness to include ad-supported tiers, Musk called the streamer "woke" and "unwatchable."

There's also the Twitter takeover bid Musk is embroiled in. Following the revelation that he was the platform's largest shareholder, a lawsuit, his declining a seat on the board, and an offer to buy Twitter, Musk revealed his plans for less moderation on the platform. But the board plans to "poison" stock to discourage the takeover bid.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/94300-elon-musk-tesla-robotaxis-mass-produced-2024-cost.html

 

[Dimitriid]

I think we need to remind readers of the term AM/FM or "Actual Machines/F*$!@( Magic" here since it applies 100%: Just being too charitable here assuming it gets approved in enough metro areas to actually make a difference by careless regulators that will have no problem with the many deaths machines will be responsible for as it is *guaranteed* they will kill, if you actually aim to replace a single bus that can carry 30 to 60 passengers at one time with a float of cars that can at the best of cases carry maybe 5 or 6 safely, then you're basically creating the perfect storm for a traffic gridlock that will be *permanent* and will take days or even weeks to clear out.

Seriously depressing that both tech bros and elected officials listen to anything this snake oil salesmen has to say.

 

[George Keech]

Gonna say a Big Ol Doubt on this. I'm sure someone will say I'm being woke by saying that (Has happened before) but he has not got the best track record of being honest and within expectations

 

[wiyosaya]

Musky doing what he does best - releasing more gas from various orifices.

 

[terzaerian]

Anyone getting into a car with no controls is dumber than a bag of hammers. Knowing the back doors states force into software, can you imagine the wet work they could get away with using "autonomous" cars?

I wish Musk would maintain his focus on finding a way to destroy Twitter, which would do more to save Western civilization than any number of electric cars.

 

[sreams]

I think we need to remind readers of the term AM/FM or "Actual Machines/F*$!@( Magic" here since it applies 100%: Just being too charitable here assuming it gets approved in enough metro areas to actually make a difference by careless regulators that will have no problem with the many deaths machines will be responsible for as it is *guaranteed* they will kill, if you actually aim to replace a single bus that can carry 30 to 60 passengers at one time with a float of cars that can at the best of cases carry maybe 5 or 6 safely, then you're basically creating the perfect storm for a traffic gridlock that will be *permanent* and will take days or even weeks to clear out.

Seriously depressing that both tech bros and elected officials listen to anything this snake oil salesmen has to say.

5 or 6 people per vehicle is a lot more than the current average... which means a lot fewer vehicles on the road.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

Total Recall already showed us what happens when you stiff your cab fare to Johnny Cab.....we don't need pissed off cabs freaking out and trying to run down people when they skip out on paying their fare.

When you someone like Elon Musk, that's easily bored with his wealth and power, he's going to be constantly looking for the next fix to tide him over. It was Twitter and now it's back to something new with Tesla. Then it'll be back to Space X....then something else. The man is bored out of his gourd and just trying to find things to pass his time on this mortal plane.

 

[waclark]

I think we need to remind readers of the term AM/FM or "Actual Machines/F*$!@( Magic" here since it applies 100%: Just being too charitable here assuming it gets approved in enough metro areas to actually make a difference by careless regulators that will have no problem with the many deaths machines will be responsible for as it is *guaranteed* they will kill, if you actually aim to replace a single bus that can carry 30 to 60 passengers at one time with a float of cars that can at the best of cases carry maybe 5 or 6 safely, then you're basically creating the perfect storm for a traffic gridlock that will be *permanent* and will take days or even weeks to clear out.

Seriously depressing that both tech bros and elected officials listen to anything this snake oil salesmen has to say.

The thing is, they aren't replacing buses in many geographies. We have very few buses in my rural area and a self-driving vehicle (assuming it's safe) would be used more and be more convenient than a bus. If these are "taxis" then they won't be replacing buses in the first place. There are millions of taxis on the road and god knows how many accidents from bad taxi drivers.

As for gridlock, as long as you allow individuals to drive on streets, you'll have some form of gridlock during busy times. The only way around that is to get drivers out of vehicles and reduce the number of vehicles on the road. Buses are good for that, but until you can go door-to-door on bus, taxis will still have a place.

 

[Dimitriid]

5 or 6 people per vehicle is a lot more than the current average... which means a lot fewer vehicles on the road.

1) This is aiming at replacing buses, not replacing cars. So don't think it will replace people who already own their own cars, it would add more cars on the roads.

2) That part was being generous as well: If the service is meant to be like a Taxi when was the last time you took a taxi or uber with more than 1 person?

I think a more realistic is that instead of average 45 people inside a bus we'd get 30 to 35 driverless taxis being more realistic about how many passages on average use a taxi service which is maybe 1.2 to 1.5 passengers per trip on average.

So on average, you're talking 300 to 400% increase in traffic over night if you plan to sell this as "Better and cheaper than buses!" This means that the taxi depot would literally collapse that sector of the city every morning just trying to move all those taxis out to pick thousands of people that would ride the bus otherwise, complete pandemonium immediately.

 

[sreams]

1) This is aiming at replacing buses, not replacing cars. So don't think it will replace people who already own their own cars, it would add more cars on the roads.

2) That part was being generous as well: If the service is meant to be like a Taxi when was the last time you took a taxi or uber with more than 1 person?

I think a more realistic is that instead of average 45 people inside a bus we'd get 30 to 35 driverless taxis being more realistic about how many passages on average use a taxi service which is maybe 1.2 to 1.5 passengers per trip on average.

So on average, you're talking 300 to 400% increase in traffic over night if you plan to sell this as "Better and cheaper than buses!" This means that the taxi depot would literally collapse that sector of the city every morning just trying to move all those taxis out to pick thousands of people that would ride the bus otherwise, complete pandemonium immediately.

Inexpensive point to point transportation will absolutely replace personally owned cars for many, especially as owning and operating your own car becomes more and more expensive. Let's not pretend it won't.

 

[Dimitriid]

Inexpensive point to point transportation will absolutely replace personally owned cars for many, especially as owning and operating your own car becomes more and more expensive. Let's not pretend it won't.

You're gonna just get people like Americans to give up their cars in favor or cheap Taxis?

Right Elon will make this happen when you couldn't even get most of the population to vaccinate or wear a damn mask to contain the pandemic, but I am sure you will get over 200 million people to navigate a vast desert of parking lots on and almost impossible to cross 6 lane roads everywhere, on foot and wait like an hour to finally get a 'cheap taxi' that's stuck on traffic just so they can go get groceries. No mandates or anything this time, just naturally encouraged to be in their eyes, robbed of all freedom by not owning a car, just to support Musk's autonomous taxi service.

I see you're an enthusiast of FM clearly.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

You're gonna just get people like Americans to give up their cars in favor or cheap Taxis?

Right Elon will make this happen when you couldn't even get most of the population to vaccinate or wear a damn mask to contain the pandemic, but I am sure you will get over 200 million people to navigate a vast desert of parking lots on and almost impossible to cross 6 lane roads everywhere, on foot and wait like an hour to finally get a 'cheap taxi' that's stuck on traffic just so they can go get groceries. No mandates or anything this time, just naturally encouraged to be in their eyes, robbed of all freedom by not owning a car, just to support Musk's autonomous taxi service.

I see you're an enthusiast of FM clearly.

How mad are you that america managrd to make it through the pandemic without giving up all their personal freedoms?

Believe it or not, most people DONT want to give up personal freedoms. Being able to move around without depending on daddy musk is pretty important to most people who don't want to succle at the tear of the 1%

 

[sreams]

How mad are you that america managrd to make it through the pandemic without giving up all their personal freedoms?

Believe it or not, most people DONT want to give up personal freedoms. Being able to move around without depending on daddy musk is pretty important to most people who don't want to succle at the tear of the 1%

Instead, I suppose they'll buy cars manufactured by the 1%.

 

[krisstarr]

1) This is aiming at replacing buses, not replacing cars. So don't think it will replace people who already own their own cars, it would add more cars on the roads.

2) That part was being generous as well: If the service is meant to be like a Taxi when was the last time you took a taxi or uber with more than 1 person?

I think a more realistic is that instead of average 45 people inside a bus we'd get 30 to 35 driverless taxis being more realistic about how many passages on average use a taxi service which is maybe 1.2 to 1.5 passengers per trip on average.

So on average, you're talking 300 to 400% increase in traffic over night if you plan to sell this as "Better and cheaper than buses!" This means that the taxi depot would literally collapse that sector of the city every morning just trying to move all those taxis out to pick thousands of people that would ride the bus otherwise, complete pandemonium immediately.

No, I would sell my car as would many others. My car before repairs or fuel costs $200 a month to sit in my garage, that is the cost of registration and insurance. I drive less than 1,000 miles a year now. So every mile cost me over $2.40 before I pay for fuel or repairs. Figure in fuel and oil changes and I am paying more than $3 a mile. Add in repairs and it gets ugly quick.

So many of us could easily use a Robo Taxi. My limits have to do with comfort, due to my orthopedic issues, back problems. Once that is sorted out I am selling my car.

 

[Dimitriid]

No, I would sell my car as would many others. My car before repairs or fuel costs $200 a month to sit in my garage, that is the cost of registration and insurance. I drive less than 1,000 miles a year now. So every mile cost me over $2.40 before I pay for fuel or repairs. Figure in fuel and oil changes and I am paying more than $3 a mile. Add in repairs and it gets ugly quick.

So many of us could easily use a Robo Taxi. My limits have to do with comfort, due to my orthopedic issues, back problems. Once that is sorted out I am selling my car.

If you lived on a city with proper, ample and efficient public transport options then you probably wouldn't need robot taxis: most of your travel would actually get you there faster by some form of train: metro, sub, etc.

Last mile if you can't bike or plan for a few minutes of walking then robot taxi services would actually be acceptable, even beneficial. But the big caveat here is that they cannot outright replace the need for proper public transport options and they should aim at supplementing them instead, that's the big issue here: build more trains first, robot taxis later.

 

[terzaerian]

No, I would sell my car as would many others. My car before repairs or fuel costs $200 a month to sit in my garage, that is the cost of registration and insurance. I drive less than 1,000 miles a year now. So every mile cost me over $2.40 before I pay for fuel or repairs. Figure in fuel and oil changes and I am paying more than $3 a mile. Add in repairs and it gets ugly quick.

So many of us could easily use a Robo Taxi. My limits have to do with comfort, due to my orthopedic issues, back problems. Once that is sorted out I am selling my car.

I don't pay 200$ for three months let alone one. From what hell have you registered your car?