--- title: "Elon Musk’s Obsession With Robotaxis Could Doom Tesla" description: "Elon Musk thinks robotaxis are the future of Tesla, but the tech is likely many years away from being perfected, let alone being profitable." date: "2024-08-01" modified: "2024-08-01" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-robotaxis-doom-tesla" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Tesla" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "robotaxis" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Elon Musk’s Obsession With Robotaxis Could Doom Tesla ![Elon Musk thinks robotaxis are the future of Tesla, but the tech is likely many years away from being perfected, let alone being profitable.]() *\Image: Justin Sullivan via Getty / Futurism\* ## No Free Ride Tesla sales [have dipped dramatically](), and in the self-driving industry at large, the future remains uncertain. Despite this, CEO Elon Musk — never easily disabused from his vision, right or wrong — has [doubled down on his belief]() that Tesla's fortunes lie in operating robotaxis, [*The New York Times* reports](), which he expects will make serious money for the company. And if Musk is to be further believed, this could be right around the corner: in a conference call last week, he claimed that Tesla is very close to perfecting these driverless vehicles, and expects to easily secure the necessary regulatory approval to put them on roads. Experts aren't convinced, however, and fear that Musk could be leading the automaker down a fruitless — if not disastrous — path. ## Cash Cab Omens can be seen in the fates of other companies that have tried — and are still are — operating robotaxis, which are a sobering reminder of the difficulties of not just perfecting the tech but bringing it to market and operating it. General Motors tried with its Cruise robotaxis, losing billions per year. After regulators began investigating the robotaxis for [reportedly endangering and even hitting pedestrians](), Cruise eventually [pulled all of its driverless vehicles off the streets]() and [slashed spending](). While other competitors like the Google-owned [Waymo]() — which has been in the game for over 15 years — and [Amazon's Zoox]() have avoided Cruise's disastrous blunders, they haven't been able to reap anything close to resembling real money. "It's a supercompetitive business that's barely profitable," Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, which owns Tesla and Uber stock, told the *NYT*. Even if Tesla makes miraculous leaps in self-driving taxis, it's unclear how this would lead to sustained profits — let alone lead to Musk's promise that it will boost the automaker's stock into the trillions of dollars. The appeal and benefits offered by robotaxis — safety, perhaps lower prices, and no human interaction — are also subtle even if they aren't contested, as safety [very much is](). "It's a slightly better taxi," Christopher Robinson, a senior director at Lux Research, told the *NYT*. "I don't think it's as disruptive as people think it is." ## Huge Handicap Another potential obstacle is how Tesla equips its self-driving cars. The vehicles operate and "see" mainly through cameras and radar sensors, but unlike competitors, don't use light detection and ranging, or LIDAR. Musk infamously [called LIDAR a "crutch]()" and has said that anyone using it was "doomed." Many experts continue to disagree, and believe that this stubborn refusal to use the tech — plus Musk's plan to operate robotaxis in areas that Tesla hasn't thoroughly mapped — is making it needlessly to difficult to improve Tesla's self-driving capabilities. "You're trying to solve the hardest problems," Philip Koopman, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, a hub of self-driving research, told the *NYT*. "I'd be surprised if Tesla could pull off a 'no kidding' robotaxi in the next 10 years without sensors and maps." **More on self-driving cars:** *[Tesla Stock Slaughtered After Its August "Robotaxi" Event Falls Apart]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()