Elon Musk is in the headlines again. And no, it isn’t because of his recent Twitter drama. The billionaire recently announced that Tesla is working on a vehicle without any steering wheel or a pedal!

Referred to as a “dedicated robotaxi,” Musk claims the upcoming EV will be optimised for high autonomy. Further stating that it’ll work as a sort of a shuttle service, costing less than a bus ticket. According to the billionaire, we could get this as early as 2024. 

Musk had hinted at this idea back in 2016, stating Tesla’s intentions of adopting a Full Self-Driving technology, which would allow private Tesla cars to go off and make the owners some money when not in use. However, details are yet unclear if the upcoming robotaxi project would be an evolution of this, or simply a separate project. 

During the same earnings call, Musk also claimed that the new robotaxi project would be unveiled in 2023, and will achieve the “lowest — fully considered — cost-per-mile, cost-per-kilometre, accounting for everything.”

The 50-year-old billionaire has been tinkering with futuristic innovations for a while now, including a humanoid robot concept called Optimus. As for when exactly Optimus would be needed, Musk was quoted saying, “It’s intended to be friendly, of course, and navigate through a world of humans, and eliminate dangerous, repetitive and boring tasks,” further adding, “It should be able to, you know, please go to the store and get me the following groceries, that kind of thing.”  

While the iRobot-Esque technology does sound interesting in theory, Musk has been known to over-promise on timelines. But let’s show some faith.

Image credits: Teslarati