Tesla's Robotaxi reveal event is being postponed after company boss Elon Musk decided the front of the vehicle needs a tweak.

The curtains were due to lift on August 8 but word reached us last week that a delay was initiated by the billionaire to give engineers more time to rework the vehicle. Musk confirmed this morning: "Requested what I think is an important design change to the front, and extra time allows us to show off a few other things."

There is precious little detail on what form Cybercab might take. Since Musk announced the self-driving vehicle in April, Tesla has enjoyed a relentless rise in its stock price. However, that increase has faltered in recent days amid talk that the Robotaxi event was being held back.

Musk is no stranger to making grand promises regarding autonomous vehicles. Sueballs have flown regarding Tesla's autopilot technology, and we're still waiting for those cross-country self-driving abilities to put in an appearance.

In the case of Robotaxis, Tesla lacks a first-mover advantage. While Cruise ended 2023 on a sour note, pausing driverless operations on its entire fleet, Waymo's cars are set to appear on the streets of Los Angeles in the near future.

Tesla's plan is to make private Tesla vehicles part of the autonomous taxi fleet - when rented out by their owners, of course - and hailed via an Uber-like app. Musk has also speculated that the silicon sitting redundant in the vehicle could be used as part of a pool of distributed computing resources.

As for the Robotaxi itself, Musk discussed it during Tesla's Q1 2022 financial results. The billionaire said it would be highly optimized for autonomy and lack a steering wheel or pedals. He also said Tesla would "aspire to reach body production in 2024".

The Register contacted Tesla to confirm the updated plans for the showcase.

Tesla has not had the best of starts to the year. Despite a buoyant stock price, sales and production slipped, and the company has laid off staff. A leaked email from Musk in April revealed that more than 10 percent of the global workforce - approximately 14,000 employees - were for the axe.

Engineers were, therefore, likely more than receptive to a last-minute change from the boss, even if it meant pushing back the taxi showcase by a few months. ®

https://www.theregister.com//2024/07/16/tesla_robotaxi_event_has_been/