Tesla prepares for robotaxi network with talking car

We wrote yesterday that Elon Musk said Tesla will soon deliver on its promise of feature-complete Full Self-Driving cars for its Tesla feel of Model 3 vehicles.

In April last year, Elon Musk had revealed plans for a robot taxi fleet run by Tesla using these cars which would earn owners money during their downtime e.g. when they are at work. This included showing off a Tesla ride-hailing app.

Today Elon Musk went one step further by showing off a video of a Telsa Model 3 talking to pedestrians, urging them to get into the car.

Teslas will soon talk to people if you want. This is real. pic.twitter.com/8AJdERX5qa

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 12, 2020

The video shows the vehicle saying “Don’t just stand there staring, hop in,” in what appears to be a clear reference to the robot taxi network.

Due to regulation to protect pedestrians Tesla has been forced to add external speakers to their car which plays noise at when the vehicle is travelling at low speed, but we assume those ring tones would not encourage people to come closer, but rather warn them to stay away.

Elon Musk has promised 1 million robot taxis on the road in 2020, with each of these taxis earning the owner up to $30,000 each year in gross profit. While we are still early in the year, to reach their goal Tesla would have to advance rather rapidly in FSD over the next 12 months.

Do our readers think Musk can make it? Let us know below.