Elon Musk’s robotaxi fantasy is starting to unravel

Last night, Elon Musk did what he does best: promise “millions” of autonomous Tesla vehicles would be on the road by the end of next year.

It’s become a familiar refrain. Every year since at least 2020, Musk has promised Tesla vehicles will finally achieve their full self-driving capabilities. And every year, those promises fail to come to fruition. Tesla has come under investigation for numerous fatalities involving its vehicles and its driver assist features, Autopilot and Full Self-Driving. His rivals continue to outpace him. And Musk has even acknowledged his overly optimistic outlook by labeling himself “the boy who cried FSD.”

That fantasy of millions of autonomous Tesla vehicles is getting closer to reality, Musk promised again last night. You’ll be able to sleep in your car and wake up at your destination by the end of this year, he vowed. As Tesla’s financial problems mount, the billionaire CEO seems eager to shift focus away from the drab realities of running a car company amid a tumultuous global trade war, and toward a mor …

Read the full story at The Verge.