Tesla stops making electric cars, Elon Musk: It’s useless!

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Elon Musk said he would focus on working on autonomous vehicles without drivers for ride-hailing services, also known as robotaxi. This move disappointed investors, as they had hoped that the company would continue to sell conventional electric vehicles (EV) to the general public.

Musk has declared that the development of conventional, autonomous EVs is “futile”. He made this statement in response to a question about when investors can expect a non-robotax regular electric car model priced at $25,000 during Tesla’s third quarter earnings on Wednesday (23/10) local time .

“I think a regular electric car model for US$25,000 is useless,” said Musk, quoted from Business Insider, on Friday (25/10/2024).

“That’s ridiculous. It would be completely against what we believe,” he said.

The billionaire said that all future Tesla vehicles will be equipped with an automatic system and that EV vehicles should be self-driving in the future.

Musk initially said that Tesla would release cheaper electric vehicles starting in the first half of 2025. But in fact, he spent most of his performance report to investors discussing plans for a robotaxi self-driving in 2027.

Tesla unveiled its first robotaxi model called the “Cybercab” earlier this month at an event in Los Angeles with a Hollywood-style sci-fi sheen.

“The two-seater cybercab will be sold for $30,000,” Musk said at the event.

But experts have previously said that the vehicle has no steering wheel or pedals, so it is likely to be difficult to get approval from regulators.

(fab/fab)