Although fully autonomous cars are still a thing of the future, Elon Musk stated that once self-driving ‘robotaxis’ become possible, they will not be sold at consumer price.
Musk’s statement on pricing follows a number of tweets about the timeline to upgrade HW2+ hardware to Tesla’s FSD computer, and comment on Tesla’s potential to have a robotaxi fleet by the end of 2020.
In response to the tweets, Musk was asked whether the price of the robotaxis would be attainable for a standard consumer and if consumers have a limited amount of time to buy a Tesla, to which Musk replied: “Yes.”
Yes
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 8, 2019
This is the first time that Musk has confirmed that consumers have a limited time to buy a Tesla that they would consider to be reasonably priced.
However, Musk later offered a clarification on what he meant about consumers having a limited time to purchase a Tesla.
To be clear, consumers will still be able to buy a Tesla, but the clearing price will rise significantly, as a fully autonomous car that can function as a robotaxi is several times more valuable than a non-autonomous car
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 8, 2019
It seems unlikely that a regular consumer would be able to purchase a robotaxi, so perhaps the company will not be focusing on consumer sales.
