Tesla is planning to launch a new robotaxi network, making it the first to create a broader vision for an autonomous ride-sharing network in 2020. “I feel very confident predicting that there will be autonomous robotaxis from Tesla next year — not in all jurisdictions because we won’t have regulatory approval everywhere,” Elon Musk said during the company’s Autonomy Day.
Musk didn’t provide much detail on what regulations he was referring to, though he added that he’s confident that the company will gain regulatory approval somewhere next year.
Tesla owners will be allowed to add their properly equipped vehicles to its riding-sharing app, which TechCrunch notes is expected to have a similar model to Uber or Airbnb. According to Musk, Tesla will take between 25-30 percent of the revenue derived from those rides. In situations where there aren’t enough people to share their cars, Tesla says it will provide a dedicated fleet of robotaxis.
New Tesla’s are now produced with its custom full self-driving computer chip, which Musk actually revealed during the event Monday. Musk claims that it’s the best in the world, as it fulfills the hardware requirements for full self-driving.
“From our standpoint, if you fast forward a year, maybe a year and three months, but next year for sure, we’ll have over a million robotaxis on the road,” Musk said. “The fleet wakes up with an over the air update; that’s all it takes.”