During an earnings call with investors on Wednesday, CEO Musk revealed that the company is planning to mass produce a taxi by the year 2024.
Musk said that the vehicle, which would build on the automaker's current self-driving technology, could be.
Musk was aware that the high price of a car made it hard for many people to afford it.
Warming to his theme, he said that according to the company's projections, a ride on arobotaxi will cost less than a bus ticket, a subsidized bus ticket, or a subsidized subway ticket.
This was Musk's clearest statement yet on the project, and he had previously spoken of his interest.
The CEO's target date is ambitious and could well slip, like many of his forecasts. It gives the company only two years to mass produce the vehicle. It will be a challenge to get the green light from state regulators in a timely manner.
Musk's statement offers an idea of where he is considering taking the company, and is a shot across the bow of other big players looking to take over the company.
Since the beginning of the year, the company has been testing its services in several states with manual controls and a safety driver. The all-electric, self-driving minivan is being built by the two companies. In early 2020, Cruise unveiled a prototype vehicle called Origin that had no manual controls.
Musk gave few details about the project, but said that the company could hold an event next year to give more information.
On the same day that the news of the growing interest in the use of self-driving cars came, the company reported an increase in revenue of 81%. The company reported a record quarterly profit of $3.3 billion, up from $438 million a year ago, and delivered a record 310,048 vehicles.
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