Tesla has released a peek of an anticipated ride-hailing function in its app, ahead of the August robotaxi reveal. The business unveiled mock-ups of the future functionality, which demonstrated the ability to “summon” a ride via the Tesla app.
The company didn’t provide many specifics about how it will operate, but pictures appear to have features similar to Uber, like the option to remotely adjust the temperature of the car before it arrives. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, declared earlier this month that the firm will debut its much-anticipated robotaxis on August 8.
Tesla has been promising a self-driving ride hailing service for years, with Musk promising the company’s robotaxi would start picking up riders back in 2019. For now, it’s unclear exactly when such a service might launch. “We are currently working on ride-hailing functionality that will be available in the future,” the company wrote in its latest earnings report. “We believe the Tesla software experience is best-in-class across all our products, and plan to seamlessly layer ride-hailing into the Tesla App.”
The update was shared in Tesla’s first-quarter earnings report for 2024. The automaker reported a revenue decline of 9 percent from last year, its steepest loss in more than a decade.
During a call with investors, Musk suggested the ride hailing service, which he referred to as “Cyber Cab,” would function like “some combination of Airbnb and Uber,” so Tesla owners could choose to make their vehicles part of the service. “There’ll be some number of cars that Tesla owns itself and operates in the fleet,” Musk said. “There’ll be a bunch of cars where they’re owned by the end user, but that end user can add or subtract their car to the fleet whenever they want. And they can decide if they want to only let the car be used by friends and family, or only by five star users, or by anyone.”
