Tesla's Robotaxi Experience Is Coming Soon. Will It Turn Things Around?

At Tesla, a very large check is finally due. Plus: we finally drive the Volvo EX30 and learn it's not all it's cracked up to be.

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Patrick George

By: Patrick George

May 30, 2025 at 9:04am ET

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A very big check is about to be due at Tesla. (Maybe, anyway.)

For about a decade now, CEO Elon Musk has promised the advent of fully autonomous Teslas, starting with a ride-share service that evolves into personal cars being used as roving taxis and ends with the steering wheel itself becoming irrelevant. We got something of a look at this grand vision last year at Tesla's We, Robot event, and nothing less than the future of the company is said to ride on achieving it.

In theory, that starts in Austin in a few weeks as Tesla commences its driverless ride-hailing service. But will June 12 mark the beginning of a new era at Tesla, or more undelivered promises?

That's one of the big topics of discussion on the latest Plugged-In Podcast. On this week's episode, Tim Levin and I try to game out whether the Robotaxi service will be a hit, or if the company should stick to making cars instead, especially that long-awaited, more affordable Tesla EV.

Speaking of affordable EVs: I finally got to drive the Volvo EX30, a car I actually tried to buy last year. But then it got delayed after it was hit with big tariffs on Chinese-made EVs, which have only gone up since. The car I wanted started around $35,000; for now, the only one you can buy in America is around $50,000 with options, like my tester. Can the EX30 deliver on the cheap EV dream, or will tariffs and geopolitical tensions keep it from truly taking off?

Volvo EX30 AMA

Photo by: Patrick George

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Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com

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