Tesla CEO Elon Musk made vague promises of completely autonomous vehicles almost a decade ago, and the automotive industry followed suit by making their own grandiose claims that ultimately fell short. Ford wasn’t immune toward jumping on this trend, with somewhat predictable results. To that end, Tesla is seemingly doubling down on its self-driving autonomous superiority with the Tesla Robotaxi dedicated ride hailing EV that Ford may counter with its own vehicle by the end of the decade.
At its core, the Tesla Robotaxi is officially billed as a ride-hailing car that can be summoned for however long the customer needs the vehicle, be it errands or commuting. The two seat vehicle does not have a steering wheel or pedals. It also lacks a charging port, and at this juncture the company says it will utilize inductive charging. Musk stated that production would begin in 2026 and that the Robotaxi would be available for less than $30,000, with assumptions that ride hailing companies would purchase them to incorporate into their fleets.
Although the Tesla Robotaxi seems like a far fetched idea, it is possible Ford is working on its own dedicated autonomous ride hailing vehicle to counter it. Earlier this year, a report indicated that the low cost Ford EV platform would underpin a number of vehicles, including a small EV pickup, crossover, and ride hailing vehicle. However, Ford seemingly shifted gears into prioritizing the pickup over the other two EVs, as it officially revealed plans to debut such a vehicle in 2027. To date, the small EV crossover that Ford CEO Jim Farley touted has not been confirmed as being in development. In the same announcement, Ford also killed off its three row EVs and pushed the next generation Ford F-150 EV to 2027.
Like Tesla, Ford has previously boasted about autonomous driving technology, only to retreat on its benefits after setbacks. Ford and VW pulled back from Argo AI exactly two years ago. Instead, Ford formed Latitude AI from its ashes, a division that is currently working on improving Ford BlueCruise hands-free driving.
Comments
Elon’s latest is just another in a long line of ludicrous ideas. Just to stay in the news. Nothing more.
Tesla’s robo-taxi has arrived. Are we ‘there’ yet?… Nope. Or why it’s more effective, safer, cheaper to automate a vehicle specifically ‘formatted’ to handle automation. Sometimes doing business, being successful can be as simple as looking at someone else’s ideas and strengths… then present something verifiably better: the car as ENABLER of driverless technology. https://rebrand.ly/pu55yjr