2019年4月23日

Tesla is taking direct aim at Uber and Lyft with plans to roll out 1 million robo-taxis

Tesla is all-in on its plans to take over the ride-hailing industry. CEO Elon Musk revealed the company’s plans to compete with incumbents like Uber and Lyft with the company’s strategy for an autonomous ride-hailing fleet. 

Robo-taxis are essentially any Tesla vehicle with autonomous-driving functionality. To turn a Tesla into a robo-taxi, a car’s owner simply adds it to the Tesla Network platform by way of the company’s app. Riders will be able to summon a robo-taxi via the same Tesla app – similarly to how they call for an Uber or Lyft today. The key difference, of course, is that there won’t be a driver in the car.

Musk acknowledged the regulatory limitations and that not all regions will openly approve the company’s futuristic tech right away. he average cost for a trip from a ride-hailing service today is about $US2 to $US3 per mile, he said, whereas Tesla’s program will likely come out to be less than $US0.18 a mile. A single robo-taxi could provide about $US30,000 worth of profits per year and over a couple hundred thousand dollars over the lifespan of the vehicle, he said.

Conservative MPs want Theresa May to resign as prime minister in 'a matter of days'

Backbench Conservative MPs will meet on Tuesday afternoon to discuss plans to force Theresa May out as prime minister “within a matter of days,” as anger over her decision to delay Brexit boils over. Under current rules, May is safe from such a challenge until next December after surviving a previous vote late last year.

However, Nigel Evans, the committee’s joint executive secretary, told TalkRADIO on Tuesday that May’s “catastrophic handling of Brexit negotiations” meant she now had to go. One plan reportedly set to be considered by the committee is halving the time until May can face another vote of no confidence, meaning another one could be held on June 12. In recent days more than 70 local Conservative associations have signed a petition calling for a national convention to discuss the prime minister’s departure.

Conservative Brexiteers want a new leader in place within weeks to enable them to challenge the European Union to either rewrite the Brexit withdrawal deal, or allow a no-deal Brexit in October.