Elon Musk is putting Tesla all-in on Robotaxi
Riding the AI wave, Elon Musk is betting Tesla’s business on its self-driving effort, including Robotaxi, at the cost of other programs critical to its core business.
At the same time, the CEO is threatening not to build AI products at Tesla.
Tesla has been investing in autonomous driving for years, but you can argue that it has had little positive impact on its business to date. For the most part, Tesla’s business, financially speaking, is selling electric vehicles, specifically Model Y.
The automaker has been very good at that, with Model Y becoming the best-selling vehicle in the world.
You would think that Tesla would continue that way and build a broader lineup of electric vehicles to continue to grow, but it didn’t play out that way.
As we previously reported, Cybertruck was a mistake for Tesla. The program could still prove successful, but Tesla’s focus on the vehicle, which is somewhat limited in terms of volume, with 250,000 units per year planned, has resulted in Tesla’s current “gap in growth waves.”
Instead of focusing on Tesla’s next-generation vehicles, which are expected to bring the company back to growth, the automaker brought the Cybertruck to market, which is cool, but it won’t meaningfully contribute to the company’s growth.
Tesla going all-in on Robotaxi
Tesla has been hedging its bets with its next-generation vehicles, which are built with a new manufacturing method the automaker calls “unboxed.” The company planned to build two vehicles on the new platform:
- a model cheaper and smaller than Model 3, sometimes being referred as the “$25,000 Tesla” or “Model 2”
- Tesla Robotaxi: a new vehicle designed from the ground-up for self-driving.
However, we reported yesterday that we were able to confirm that CEO Elon Musk postponed Tesla’s cheaper model in favor of Robotaxi.
That is a huge bet as Tesla now absolutely needs to solve self-driving in order to keep growing at any significant pace, as it would not have a car program geared toward growth for years otherwise.
Musk said that Tesla would be spending “several billions of dollars” on NVIDIA compute power this year to train its self-driving system.
We reported yesterday that Tesla is aiming to complete a massive data center to train Full Self-Driving at Gigafactory Texas by the end of August. That’s just a few weeks after Tesla plans to unveil its ‘Robotaxi’.
Electrek’s Take
With the postponed cheaper model, Tesla will be looking at a minimum of three years without significant growth if it doesn’t achieve self-driving.
That’s why I am saying that Elon Musk is putting Tesla all-in on self-driving and Robotaxi.
I get it, to a degree. AI is moving at incredible speeds right now, and there’s this feeling that technologies will move a lot faster because of it. Many tech leaders are rushing to link their companies to it.
I’ve had FSD Beta in my car for 2 years now, and it didn’t feel to me like FSD was improving at AI speeds, if at all, but I’ve had v12 for a week now, and I have to admit that this is a meaningful improvement.
It is giving me some hope that Tesla could start improving the system at AI speeds. Potentially.
But with all that said, I think Tesla could have still hedged its bets and developed the cheaper vehicle side-by-side — even if it meant Robotaxi would be a bit behind this new accelerated schedule.
It is still risky.
For Tesla shareholders, it’s also confusing. Elon is taking all this risk, betting everything on AI helping Tesla solve self-driving, saying that “Tesla is now an AI company”, and at the same time, he threatened Tesla shareholders that he would not build AI products at Tesla if he doesn’t 25% control over the company’s shares, which he would have he didn’t sell billions of dollars worth of Tesla shares to buy Twitter.
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In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss the new Tesla Model S/X “refresh”, robotaxi service is coming, a new EV price war in China, and more.
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Kia’s electric SUV has already become a hit in several overseas markets. The EV5 is now arriving as the first electric Kia to be assembled in Singapore, as it rolls out to new global markets.
Kia EV5 arrives as its first locally made EV in Singapore
Shortly after its introduction at the 2023 Chengdu Motor Show, Kia launched the EV5 in China, with prices starting at about 20,000 (149,800 yuan).
Kia is now seeing a full-on recovery in China, largely thanks to the new electric SUV. Its joint venture partner in China, Yueda Kia, ranked first in sales growth among JV brands.
In China, Kia sold over 248,000 vehicles last year, the first time it has crossed the 200,000 mark since 2020. The EV5 is made at Yueda Kia’s manufacturing plant in China and exported to overseas markets like Australia and Thailand.
In fact, the EV5 is currently the fourth best-selling EV in Australia this year through April, ahead of every BYD vehicle.
The EV5 is slightly smaller than the Tesla Model Y at 4,615 mm in length, 1,875 mm in width, and 1,715 mm in height.
After launching the EV5 in Singapore on May 28, Kia hit a milestone. The electric SUV arrives as Kia’s first locally assembled EV in the region.
The EV5 was officially launched during an event at Hyundai Motor Innovation Groupe Centre Singapore, where it will be made. It will join other Hyundai Motor electric cars, including the IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6. Hyundai also builds the IONIQ 5 robotaxi here and exports it to the US.
Kia’s distributor, Cycle and Carriage, will sell the EV5 in three variants: Air, Earth, and a sporty GT-line. Two battery sizes will be available, 64.2 kWh and 88.1 kWh, providing range of 400 km and 540 km, respectively.
Prices for the base Air trim start at $194,000 (SDG), including COE. The Earth and GT-Line models start at $210,500 (SDG) and $260,000 (SDG) with COE.
Later this year, Kia will launch the global version of the EV5, which will be made at its Autoland Gwangju manufacturing plant in South Korea. It will be sold in overseas markets, including Europe and Canada, but not the US.
Kia confirmed the EV5 will be “exclusively for the Canadian market” in North America. It will be available in FWD and AWD powertrains. Two battery sizes will be offered: 60.3 kWh or 81.4 kWh, providing a range of up to 500 km (310 miles).
Source: Cycle & Carriage Kia Pte Ltd, The Straits Times
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Do we smell a three-peat? The team at Ford Performance is once again competing at the annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, and this year is bringing a “Super” version of the all-electric Mustang Mach-E… At least we think there’s a Mach-E in there somewhere.
Pikes Peak—the “Race to the Clouds.” This annual event spanning 12.42 miles to an elevation of over 14,000 feet in the mountains above Colorado has been celebrated for over 100 years. While its hill climb is rooted in tradition and traditional vehicles, it has become an annual opportunity for EV engineers to showcase how much better all-electric models can be.
Last year, Rivian, Hyundai, and Ford Performance all impressed, with the former two automakers snagging records for their vehicle types, while Ford’s “F-150 Supertruck” took the “King of the Mountain” crown for the fastest climb of the day.
This past January, we learned that Ford Performance planned to defend its title at Pikes Peak with its third all-electric demonstrator in as many years. At the time, we only saw a sheeted vehicle that appeared to be relatively low with a massive spoiler, but the glowing front emblem left no doubt that it was a modified version of the Mustang Mach-E.
Today, Ford Performance unveiled the BEV it will use to climb Pikes Peak, which it is calling the Super Mustang Mach-E. Have a gander.
Super Mach-E will try to hold Ford’s Pikes Peak crown
Ford Performance shared the images seen above in an Instagram post with the following caption:
12 miles of mountain road. 156 turns. 14,115 feet of elevation. This is the @pikespeakhillclimb, and we’re bringing 6,125 lbs of downforce — and @romaindumas_official — to take it on with the Super Mustang Mach-E.
From the post, we’ve learned the Super Mustang Mach-E will be driven up Pikes Peak by none other than veteran French racer Romain Dumas. Dumas has a wealth of experience in some of the world’s largest (and longest) races, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Nürburgring 24 Hours, and the 24 Hours of Daytona.
He has been contracted to Ford Performance since 2022 and has won two of his five Hill Climb victories with the American automaker in the past two years (although the 2023 SuperVan victory was in the division and second overall). Could Dumas tally his sixth career victory at Pike Peak with a three-peat with Ford in the Super Mustang Mach-E?
Ford Performance and Romain Dumas have shown they can do it, so it’s a serious possibility. We will find out on June 22, 2025, when the 103rd running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb takes place.
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