US electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla plans to unveil its long-promised "Robotaxi" self-driving car on August 8, Tesla boss Elon Musk announced on Friday.
Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur, did not provide any further details in his very brief post on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, which he owns.
According to earlier statements, the autonomous vehicle will be based on a new technical platform that is intended to make production more efficient and cost-effective.
Musk has been promising for years that Teslas will drive autonomously - and that this will radically change the value of the cars and the business model.
So far, Tesla's so-called "Autopilot" technology in the company's electric cars is merely a driver assistance system that requires control and intervention by a human at the wheel.
Other companies have launched self-driving taxi vehicles already, including the Google subsidiary Waymo.
But Musk has insisted that Tesla's self-driving taxi would use only cameras, and not the more expensive laser radar arrays, in order to scan the vehicle's surroundings and guide the vehicle.
That approach by Tesla is controversial among experts. In the past, accidents have occurred after Tesla's Autopilot cameras were dazzled by the sun and the drivers had relied too much on the technology.
