Elon Musk promised to create a futuristic unmanned taxi, but did not specify the release date
At the opening of the new Tesla plant in Texas, which cost the automaker $1.1 billion, Elon Musk made a number of high-profile statements. He promised to launch a beta version of Full Self-Driving (FSD) for drivers in North America this year and announced plans to create an automated unmanned taxi.
Tesla will expand FSD capabilities to help drivers navigate the road. The system will cost an additional $12,000, for which owners of electric vehicles will receive more features. Elon Musk did not specify which ones, but the program will definitely not make the cars autonomous and will require driver control.
The billionaire has promised that completely unmanned cars will still appear, and taxis that “look futuristic” will be the first.
Huge scale. Full autonomous control. There will be a special robot taxi.
The founder of Tesla in 2019 promised to launch similar taxis by 2020 in some regions of the United States, but the plans were not realized. Now, Musk does not name specific terms.
The billionaire also mentioned Cybertruck and the humanoid robot Optimus, which will be produced next year. Another electric car of the company – Model Y – will be assembled at the plant in Texas, and the planned capacity – up to half a million cars a year. According to Musk, the plant in this state will be the largest in the United States.
Analysts believe that new plants in Texas and Berlin may face problems in increasing production. However, Musk said that Tesla has simplified the assembly of cars, making it modular – in three main parts.
The plant in Shanghai, which set a record for the supply of electric vehicles in the first quarter, is having issues due to a new surge in COVID-19 in China. The plant even stopped production for a few days.
The presentation of the new plant took place after the news of Elon Musk’s purchase of a 9% stake in Twitter.
