Tesla CEO Elon Musk has long championed robotaxis as the ultimate goal for the company’s electric vehicle (EV) and autonomous driving business.
During Tesla’s earnings call on Tuesday, Musk remained confident in this belief, asserting that Tesla’s autonomous driving technology would start contributing to the company’s profits as early as next year.
EV news outlet Electrek reported that Musk reaffirmed his commitment to launch a fully autonomous vehicle service in Austin, Texas, starting this June. He boldly claimed the Cybercab will significantly impact Tesla’s financial performance by mid-next year, adding that Tesla will capture over 90% of the autonomous driving market.
Musk aimed at competitors like Google’s Waymo criticizing their services as prohibitively expensive. He asserted that no company comes close to matching Tesla’s production capabilities for robotaxis and AI robots.
Tesla plans to deploy 10 to 20 vehicles in Austin at launch. Musk’s broader goal is to have millions of Tesla robotaxis operational by the second half of next year.
However, industry observers remain skeptical, noting that he has been setting lofty goals for the past decade. Many question whether Tesla can deliver on its latest timeline for robotaxi commercialization and service expansion.
The company has already faced delays in its EV production targets, the Cybertruck rollout, and advancements in autonomous driving technology. Tesla originally aimed to commercialize with one million units by 2020—a goal that now looks unlikely even by 2026.
Despite reporting first-quarter results that fell significantly short of market expectations, Tesla’s stock surged over 4% in after-hours trading. The company emphasized improvements in its EV sector and global expansion strategy. Tesla’s Q1 revenue came in at 19.34 billion USD, down 9% year-over-year, while net profit plummeted 71% to 409 million USD, resulting in what analysts called an Earnings Shock.
In addition to the robotaxi updates, Musk confirmed that production of Tesla’s low-cost EV models would begin by June. He also announced plans to reduce his time on the Department of Government Efficiency(DOGE) related work, focusing more on managing Tesla.
