Elon Musk explains why Tesla's Robotaxi event is delayed

Elon Musk said he asked for an "important design change to the front" of Tesla's Robtaxi, and extra time will let Tesla "show off a few other things."

• Tesla's Robotaxi Day has been delayed to October, Bloomberg previously reported.
• Elon Musk on social media confirmed Tesla needed "extra time" to redesign the front of the vehicle.
• Musk has said Tesla's driverless taxi business will function like "a combination of Airbnb and Uber."

Elon Musk has seemingly confirmed Tesla's Robotaxi event has been delayed and revealed one reason the company needs more time before the big reveal.

Bloomberg reported last week that the event had been delayed from August 8 to October. The delay was relayed internally and the design team was told to modify some aspects of the vehicle, according to the report.

Musk spoke publicly about the delay for the first time in a social media post on Monday.

"Requested what I think is an important design change to the front, and extra time allows us to show off a few other things," Musk said on X.

The Tesla CEO's post was in response to a video posted by Tesla shareholder Warren Redlich examining the potential reasoning behind a delay.

Musk has said Tesla's driverless taxi business — which will eventually allow Tesla drivers to opt into adding their vehicles to the fleet when not in use — is meant to function like "a combination of Airbnb and Uber."

So far, we've only seen a preview of what the app element of the service could look like.

A few weeks ago, Tesla released a demo clip showing Rosalie Nathans, whose profile says she's a senior manager for used cars and online sales at Tesla, requesting the service on the app and getting in the vehicle. The app display in the video seemed to allow passengers options to personalize their experience by listing the car temperature, audio volume, and song playing on the display.

The apparent reveal event delay isn't a complete shock — Musk often underestimates how long it will take to bring the ideas he has to market, saying he tends to be optimistic about product timelines. The same happened with the Cybertruck, Tesla's Full Self-Driving software, and Starlink's high-speed internet access in remote areas.

Not much is known about Tesla's Robotaxi event aside from that the public will get a glimpse at whatever the company has been working on. Tesla's Full Self-Driving software, which would power the Robotaxis, is still in beta and a work in progress — it currently requires human oversight at all times in case an intervention is needed. Tesla is also facing a number of lawsuits and regulator scrutiny related to safety concerns over its self-driving software.

Tesla has yet to officially announce a new date for the Robotaxi event. The EV company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.