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Tesla boss Elon Musk at a presentation in China
Photo: Aly Song / REUTERS
The US electric car company Tesla wants to present its self-driving robotaxi in the summer. The computer-controlled vehicle will be presented on August 8th, Tesla boss Elon Musk announced on Friday in the online service X. As a result of the announcement, Tesla shares rose by six percent after the New York stock market closed.
Musk repeatedly praises Tesla's potential for self-driving electric cars. The billionaire also presented the idea that unused vehicles with the FSD (Full Self-Driving) autopilot system could be used as robotaxis when their owners do not need them.
"Most people still have no idea how terribly good Tesla's FSD will be," Musk wrote on that people drove cars even when they were exhausted and drunk."
However, the development of robotaxis is met with concerns from regulators and the public. The Californian metropolis of San Francisco is a test area for the new technology. However, the robotaxis from the Google subsidiary Waymo have repeatedly been the target of vandalism. GM's self-driving cruise robotaxis suspended operations indefinitely at the end of October after several accidents brought California regulators into action.
With his announcement about robotaxis, Musk may have wanted to distract from negative reports about his electric car company. This week Tesla reported a decline in sales. The number of global deliveries of Tesla cars fell by 8.5 percent in the first quarter. This is particularly due to weak demand in China, where domestic manufacturers are providing strong competition to the US company.
A media report also said that Tesla had abandoned its long-held plan to develop an electric car for the mass market at a price of around $25,000 (23,000 euros). The report was vehemently denied by Musk.
kig/AFP