Want to drive a Tesla yourself in the future? Be prepared to pay a high price.
On Thursday, Tesla's Elon Musk released a new model and demonstrated a feat that seemingly defies gravity. The car adhered to the side of a vertical ramp, drove backwards, briefly flew into the air, landed steadily, and then bounced and rotated above a row of other standing Tesla vehicles.
Elon Musk said that these stunts were completed with the assistance of the autonomous driving system – but ultimately, the owners of these cars will still be able to take control of the steering wheel themselves. This will make it stand out uniquely in Tesla's product line.
"In the long run, this will actually be the only car manufactured by Tesla that can be driven manually," Musk said on stage. Subsequently, Tesla's chief engineer Lars Moravy added, "You have to find some fun once in a while, after all."
Tesla has not yet announced the final price of this car, but it is certain that it will firmly fall into the category of luxury supercars. The company's reservation page requires customers who wish to purchase the base Performance version to pay a deposit of $50,000 first, which must be paid in full within 10 days. This deposit alone is close to the price of an ordinary car in the United States, and it does not even include the final selling price of this car. The best pricing clue we can find dates back to 2017, when Tesla first indicated that it would reintroduce the Roadster model. At that time, the automaker charged $250,000 for those who wished to buy the Founder Series model.
At the same time, Tesla has been increasing its efforts in the development of autonomous driving for models that place more emphasis on price.
In September, Tesla began to launch the Cybercab – a vehicle that relies heavily on autonomous driving and does not even have a steering wheel, brake pedals, or rearview mirrors. Tesla stated that in the future, they hope to sell such cars to consumers for less than $30,000 each.
At the recent financial report conference call, Musk also praised the recurring revenue generated by the subscriptions of the owners of Cybertruck, Model Y, and Model to Full Self - Driving ( Supervised ).
Elon Musk has mentioned on multiple occasions a world where driving will become obsolete. He compares driving to operating an elevator, a profession that largely disappeared in the mid-20th century with the automation of elevators.
“Now, you just need to walk in and press the button; if regular inspections are carried out, modern elevators are extremely safe,” he wrote on X in March.
Regarding driving as operating an elevator requires a rather significant leap in mindset. Driving is still a hobby, a sport, and for many people, it is also a source of pride. In Moravy's own words, driving is fun.
However, in Musk's vision for the future of this automaker, drivers still have the opportunity to take control of their Tesla and enjoy that pleasure themselves. It's just that they'll have to open their wallets first.
