Tesla plans robot taxi without steering wheel and pedals in 2024

Tesla wants to have its previously announced robot taxi in mass production in two years and the model must not have a steering wheel. According to founder and director Elon Musk, the robot taxi should contribute significantly to the automaker’s turnover.

Musk says in an explanation of the quarterly figures that Tesla is aiming for mass production in 2024. “The robot taxi is optimized for autonomy,” he claims. That is why there is no steering wheel and there are no pedals in the car. “We try to achieve the lowest costs per kilometer driven with this car, if you take everything into account.”

It is the first time that Tesla has mentioned some details of the future product. Two weeks ago, the automaker said it was working on the robot taxi, but did not provide any further details. Even now, Musk says he doesn’t want to give too much away. “We are going to hold an event next year to show all the details,” he says. Tesla’s roadmaps are invariably optimistic, which means that the company often misses its own deadlines.

Many things are still unknown, such as where and how the autonomous taxi would function. It is also unknown whether the car should be allowed on the road without a steering wheel and pedals. That would make taking over the car by a human driver in emergency situations more difficult.