Tesla appears set to unveil its self-driving taxi during the electric car giant’s “We, Robot” event Thursday night.
The so-called “Cybercab” was originally slated to be revealed in August, but has been publicly touted by Tesla CEO Elon Musk since 2019.
The announcement comes a week after Reuters reported on Musk’s plans to create a Tesla-run autonomous ride service using vehicles owned by his customers when they are not otherwise in use.
The event also comes at a critical time for the company’s standing as its CEO and face has made a rightward lurch, effectively becoming a surrogate for the campaign of former President Donald Trump.
Here’s what you need to know about the “We, Robot” event.
How to watch Tesla’s “We, Robot” event
The event will be streamed on the social media platform X, which Musk purchased as Twitter, at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.
Musk wanted to release robotaxis in 2020
In April 2019, Musk revealed that he expected Tesla robotaxis to be fully operating by 2020.
The company predicted that each driverless vehicle would withstand 11 years and 1 million miles, earning the company $30,000 in annual profit. He also shared that the cars would would be accompanied by a ride-share app similar to both Uber and Airbnb.
U.S. and Chinese regulators have currently only approved self-driving cars in limited and experimental instances on public roads.
The automotive company faces lawsuits and investigations related to crashes with its existing autopilot and Full Self-Driving driver-assistance systems, which the company has Tesla has explained were the result of inattentive drivers.
Tesla misses delivery expectations third quarter
Tesla missed Wall Street’s expectations when it released its third quarter delivery report last week.
Elecktrek reported that the analyst consensus landed at 463,000 deliveries for the quarter while Tesla reported 462,890.
Model 3 and Model Y made up the vast majority of the deliveries with nearly 440,000 of the two models delivered in the quarter. Tesla delivered just under 23,000 of all other models combined.
Check back for updates from the “We, Robot” event
Contributing: Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tesla robotaxi set to be revealed in ‘We, Robot’ live event Thursday
