Tesla promise? Elon Musk confirms robot taxis with ‘futuristic’ looks

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has confirmed that his company will roll out a dedicated self-driving taxi in the future with looks unlike what has so far been seen on vehicles on roads the world over. While Musk does not provide a time frame for the self-driving Tesla taxi, it could pave the way for yet another important milestone in mobility solutions that is undergoing a change at a rather fast pace.

Addressing a large audience at the grand opening of the mammoth Tesla facility in Texas - this will be the epicenter of Tesla operations with its new HQ here as well, Musk pointed to plans of the future. "Massive scale. Full self-driving. There's going to be a dedicated robotaxi," he said. While a dedicated robotaxi is a rather new confirmation, Musk and Tesla have been doggedly pursuing a future where vehicles drive themselves.

Autonomous or self-driving technology has been fast catching up with Tesla having a lead in this particular automotive arena as well. Musk has previously claimed that such vehicles would be safer than conventional ones because machines would be able to eliminate chances of human errors. He has also said that equipped with cutting-edge and constantly enhanced array of on-board cameras, radars and sensors, self-driving vehicles would be able to change the way people travel. Tesla will expand its "Full Self-Driving" beta software to all North American FSD subscribers this year, Musk also confirmed.

But the self-driving technology has not been free from controversies with a number of Tesla crashes leading investigating agencies in the US to look closer at the technology itself. People have been detained for various offenses in such vehicles like sleeping in the backseat, being on mobile phones and even having sex while the car drives itself. Tesla, however, urges that a driver pays attention to surroundings at all times and keeps his or her hands on the steering as well.