--- title: "Elon Musk Says Tesla Is Working on a Car With No Steering Wheel" description: "During Tesla's earnings call on Wednesday, Musk promised to have a \"dedicated robotaxi\" ready for \"volume production\" as soon as 2024." date: "2022-04-21" modified: "2022-04-21" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-car-no-steering-wheel" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Tesla" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "full self-driving" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Elon Musk Says Tesla Is Working on a Car With No Steering Wheel ![During Tesla's earnings call on Wednesday, Musk promised to have a "dedicated robotaxi" ready for "volume production" as soon as 2024.]() *\Image: Tesla\* ## Take the Wheel After [regularly promising fully self driving cars]() for over half a decade, Tesla CEO Elon Musk still isn't giving up hope. During the company's earnings call on Wednesday, [Musk promised]() to have a "dedicated robotaxi," with no steering wheel, ready for "volume production" as soon as 2024. "It's fundamentally optimized for trying to achieve the lowest fully considered cost per mile, cost per kilometer, accounting everything," he said during the call. "I think that that really will be a massive driver of Tesla's growth." Musk clarified that the vehicle would "not have a steering wheel or pedals." But whether investors will actually allow anything like that remains to be seen. After all, self-driving technologies have turned out to be a Pandora's box for the billionaire CEO, who [has faced major headwinds]() in trying to bring them to market, attracting plenty of [attention and scrutiny]() from US regulators. ## Mr. Robotaxi Earlier this month, Musk [teased the "dedicated robotaxi"]() at the company's Cyber Rodeo event at its brand new factory near Austin, Texas. "Massive scale. Full self-driving," he said at the event. "There's going to be a dedicated robotaxi." These vehicles would also feature a "futuristic" design, according to Musk. Musk also reiterated that he would be "shocked" if the car company did not get to the point this year when full self driving officially becomes safer than humans driving. In the long run, Musk still believes that humanoid robots like the one Tesla is working on, called [Optimus](), will prove to be an even bigger success than robotaxis. "Optimus ultimately will be worth more than the car business, worth more than FSD," he said during Wednesday's call. But the company has yet to show its cards when it comes to its brand new humanoid robot assistant — if it even has anything to show. All we've seen so far is a human [performer wearing an Optimus costume]() — which, in the end, may be a good metaphor for the robotaxi. **READ MORE:** [Elon Musk says Tesla hopes to produce a robotaxi with no steering wheel or pedals in 2024]() \[*Insider*\] **More on Tesla:** *[Tesla Reportedly Forcing Workers to Sleep on Factory Floor in Shanghai]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()