Tesla to unveil its “robotaxi” this summer Elon Musk's statement

CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk has long had an affinity for self-driving vehicles, claiming they will be one of Tesla's most important products.

Despite big promises, years have gone by without cars that can, so far, drive on their own, according to ABC 7 News.

But Musk, on April 5, when companies tend to bury news, announced on X that Tesla would unveil its robotaxi on August 8.

His post was simple and included no details. "Tesla Robotaxi unveil on 8/8," the Tesla CEO (and owner of X) posted.

Musk has said in the past that Tesla will make a car without controls for a human to use. He has also said in the past that Tesla cars equipped with Full Self-Driving Capability will, through software updates, gradually become better and better at driving. At some point, the cars will be capable of operating as fully autonomous taxis and could earn money for their owners by giving taxi rides on their own, Musk has repeatedly said.

So far, the company has passed several of Musk's predictions for when actual self-driving would be possible.

Tesla five years ago, in April 2019, said it expected to begin operating robotaxis by 2020. The company predicted the autonomous cars would last 11 years and drive 1 million miles, making the company and the car's operators $30,000 in profit each year.

But Musk also acknowledged that his track record for predictions can be off - sometimes by a mile.

"The only criticism and it's a fair one, sometimes I'm not on time. But I get it done and the Tesla team gets it done," Musk said at the April 2019 event.

Currently, Full Self-Driving capability can be purchased with a new Tesla Model 3, for instance, for an additional $12,000 added to the car's roughly $40,000 purchase price. It can also be purchased on a subscription basis for up to $199 a month, depending on how the car was originally equipped.