I have seen a lot of mixed reactions to this announcement. As you mentioned it could be a response to the Reuters article. A lot of comments I've read said something similar, how he was forced to give out some update to appease the people. Some even noted that there will be a lot of sleepless nights for the engineers after this. Others even enumerated some previous announcements that have not yet materialized.
Well a date was given and considering all that is surrounding FSD, it seems they had a major breakthrough.
There are going to be a ton of naysayers regarding Tesla expressing doubt and skepticism. It is amazing how so many think they are smarter than Musk and know better than he does.
I don't think the naysayers think they are smarter than Musk and know better than he does... they're just pointing out that Musk has promised "Full Self Driving" or "RoboTaxis" to be right around the corner for years and years now.
My prediction is that before 8/8 there will be an announcement of some kind of delay or it will be like the CyberTruck announcement where the actual production vehicle is still 4 years away... but I guess we'll see if history repeats or if Musk comes through with his promise.
We have no idea what "unveil" means.
You could be right: it could be a vehicle ready for production, a prototype, or a mock up with "this is what we are thinking of doing".
There is no way to know.
That said, the focus on the car is pointless. A robotaxi is not about the car but the software plus the network. The box that is used is secondary.
How is a robotaxi going to recharge? Without a driver, there is no way to do this without wireless charging. Is that being developed/rolled out? How will that be handled?
What about the application? Cant have that without an application? While not a difficult matter, still needs addressing?
How about the financial program? This will likely be more than just Tesla vehicles, how is that handled? What will the cuts be for vehicle owners versus company? What about a rating system? How will they distinguish from nefarious actors versus those who are not?
These are just a few examples of what is required within the ecosystem. But, alas, people are going to focus upon the car when it is really secondary.
These are all great questions. I'm super curious to see if any or all will be answered.
When you said:
There are going to be a ton of naysayers regarding Tesla expressing doubt and skepticism. It is amazing how so many think they are smarter than Musk and know better than he does.
I honestly do think it's both valid and justified to be skeptical of the things Musk says.
Look at this:
Model Y price will go up by $1000 in April...
Instead of the price actually going up, the price came down.
Did Elon knowingly lie? Did Elon make a mistake? Did Tesla have to change their minds? Who knows... it doesn't really matter.
I seriously think it's wise to have some skepticism with announcements from Tesla and Elon. I don't at all think I'm smarter than him or know better... but he's famously inaccurate.
I wasn't familiar with Robotaxi so I scanned some articles, and it seems they have a few roadblocks they need to overcome. Apart from the actual vehicle that will be used, there seems to be some regulations that need to be addressed. I do hope they can make the deadline they set.
