The asking price of a Tesla car is not exactly cheap because of the cutting-edge technology packed in every unit. Soon enough, the price tag will increase and possibly reach the six-digit level when Tesla's core feature of self-driving has been perfected. This came directly from Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
According to Electrek, the Tesla blueprint envisions that all car models produced by the company will be equipped with full self-driving hardware. When this happens, Tesla cars will be designed by default to operate as "autonomous robotaxis" that generate revenues not only for would-be buyers but also for Tesla.
In this perfect stage when autopilot feature is a normal car feature, Musk said Tesla cars will be treated as "appreciating assets" that carry with them a huge potential to earn. So it will be normal for the company to change its business model.
In Tesla's adjusted business, Musk said the clearing price for each unit "will rise significantly." In a Twitter post, he further explained that "as a fully autonomous car that can function as a robotaxi, (a Tesla car model) is several times more valuable than a non-autonomous car."
Electrek said the price hike is justified by Tesla's calculation that cars or robotaxis with fully functional autopilot system stand to earn a minimum of $330,000 over the course of its productive use. This projection is against the average retail price of $40,000.
So business-wise, it would be smart of Tesla to stop selling cars and simply deploy all available units to its fleet of robotaxis that according to Musk will have a million cars by the end of 2020. All units will be fully-driven by a computer program by that time, the company chief asserted.
Or Tesla can still opt to sell cars to consumers but the pricing will not be the same as today. At the very least, the selling price will match the minimum earning potentials of a car unit that boasts of self-driving capabilities.
To this, Musk hinted that the time to buy a Tesla with the current price tag will be gone soon. And this will fully unfold once the autopilot technology has reached a near-perfect phase, which according to CNET would be known as "Level 5 autonomous-capable vehicle."
In Level 5 autopilot, Tesla or any other carmaker is expected to deliver to the market self-driving vehicles "fully-functional, safe and reliable."
As earlier indicated, Musk has stated that self-driving robotaxis will become a reality in the last months of 2020 as he claimed that Tesla is approaching the completion of its work on autopilot feature. Yet going by the previous claims made by the company chief, and many of them marred by overestimations, it seems realistic to delays on the actual implementation.
