Tesla CEO Elon Musk dreams big but often delivers late

(Reuters) – Tesla CEO and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has a long history of making ambitious promises and often delivering late. Many of his biggest ideas are still in the works.
Musk has described himself as pathologically optimistic, saying he does deliver in the end, “which is the important thing”. His ambition and success with electric vehicles has turned Tesla into the world’s most valuable automaker.
But now, as the automaker faces declining sales and strong competition, Musk is trying to pivot to robotaxis and autonomous driving – bets that some experts say could be years away.
Here are some of Musk’s promises over the years:
FULL SELF-DRIVING TECHNOLOGY
Musk’s most famous unfulfilled promise revolves around “FSD”, Tesla Full Self-Driving software. FSD is not fully autonomous, but Musk for years has been promising it would be.
He initially spoke about self-driving capabilities in 2015, saying autonomous cars would be available within three years.
But he missed that deadline and has promised almost each year since 2020 that Tesla’s vehicles would achieve full self-driving capabilities. In 2023, Musk called himself the “boy who cried FSD” – an admission of his missed targets.
Tesla has said it would release an “unsupervised” version of FSD, which presumably would not require human oversight, in California this year, without offering more information.
On Tuesday, he forecast millions of Teslas operating fully autonomously by the second half of next year.
MASS-MARKET EV
In 2016, Musk announced plans for a mass-market electric vehicle priced around $35,000. The Model 3 electric sedan debuted in 2017, initially with higher-priced versions. A base model close to the promised price was eventually made available.
The Model 3 would prove to be a big success and then get surpassed in sales by the Model Y, a cross-over SUV that came out in 2020 and was built on the same platform.
MORE AFFORDABLE TESLA EV
Musk first announced plans for a roughly $25,000 car in 2020 but offered no specifics about the vehicle at the time. Reuters exclusively reported last year that Tesla scrapped its plans for the low-cost car sometimes described as the Model 2.
Tesla subsequently said it would create affordable cars that would be built on current product lines, rather than the new vehicle previously envisioned. Musk said in April 2024 that Tesla would introduce the “new models” by early 2025.
Tesla has said the more-affordable models would start production in the first half of 2025, although Reuters reported exclusively last week that plans for an affordable Tesla, which include a stripped-down version of its best-selling Model Y SUV made in the U.S., would be delayed by months.
PROFITABILITY
Tesla’s profit margins have come under pressure in recent quarters due to aggressive discounts and financing offers aimed at boosting sales. This squeeze dilutes the company’s hard-won profitability.
From 2012 to 2019, Musk repeatedly pledged that Tesla would achieve sustained profitability. After years of losses, the company surprised investors with a third-quarter profit in 2019 and has since maintained consistent quarterly profits, which led to its inclusion in the S&P 500 index in 2020.
CYBERCAB ROLLOUT
Musk said in 2019 he was “very confident” Tesla would have operational robotaxis by 2020. In October 2024, he announced plans for a self-driving robotaxi, called a Cybercab, to go into production from 2026.
Cybercab production could be disrupted, Reuters reported, because Tesla has paused component imports from China after tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump jumped to 145%.
CYBERTRUCK
Musk introduced its Cybertruck pickup truck in 2019 and planned to start manufacturing around late 2021. Production actually started in 2023.
NEXT-GENERATION ROADSTER ELECTRIC SPORTS CAR
The company in late 2017 announced a new version of its Roadster would launch in 2020. In 2021, Musk pushed the launch of the Roadster to 2023, citing global supply chain bottlenecks. In 2023, he said Tesla hopes to start production of its long-delayed Roadster the following year.
Musk announced last year Tesla would aim to ship its long-delayed next-generation Roadster in 2025.
Reporting by Jaspreet Singh and Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath
Source: worldautoforum.com