While we admire Elon Musk's contributions to the automobile industry, we believe it's fair to state he has a track record of missing deadlines. We published an opinion piece last year on most of his hollow promises and failures, for which he appears to receive a free pass all of the time.
The Tesla Cybertruck is the most recent example of a missed deadline. Deliveries were supposed to start in 2021, however that didn't happen. The Cybertruck's delivery date was then suddenly deleted from Tesla's website early this year.
Tesla will have self-driving vehicles around this time next year, according to Electrek. Musk previously told reporters in Brazil that Tesla will have self-driving cars around this time next year. These vehicles would not require any human supervision, implying that no one would be driving them.
It's difficult to believe, given that Musk has made this pledge before. Musk had stated that one million robotaxis would be on the road by 2020, but we have yet to see one.
Instead, Tesla made Full Self-Driving Beta available to a select group of customers, which is a long way from a self-driving car that requires no human interaction. And, as we've seen previously, Full Self-Driving is untrustworthy. Tesla, it must be mentioned, is constantly updating the Beta version, but not to the point where any sensible person would take their eyes off the road for a second.
One inexperienced politician is so fed up with Full Self-Driving that he's decided to make a political career out of disliking Tesla, the polar opposite.
When it comes to so-called self-driving cars, there's little doubt that Tesla is much ahead of the competition. However, we can't help but observe how many well-known firms have abandoned the notion.
The feds are always on Tesla's tail, and Audi's attorneys have stated unequivocally that you would never be allowed to sleep in a self-driving car. Mercedes-Benz is now the only manufacturer to bear responsibility for its autonomous features, but only at speeds under 40 miles per hour.
Expect the government will take a long time to consent to complete self-driving without supervision, even if it is magically realized. Full self-driving is a legal quagmire just from the standpoint of duty.