Tesla to sell $25K Model 3 Taxi without steering wheel

The company claims the revenue opportunity represents $100's of thousands per car.

Tesla has announced an ambitious vision for its planned ride-sharing fleet, which will eventually pave the way for a $25,000 Model 3 Taxi that omits a steering wheel or other human controls.

In the near term, the company will continue to sell the current Model 3 that can be enabled for the ride-sharing fleet via an over-the-air update. The car already has an intended life of 1 million miles, except for the battery pack that is expected to last closer to 300,000 miles. Next year, a revised battery pack is expected to bring a million-mile life to match the car itself.

The projected cost of running an electric robotaxi is around $0.18 per mile, potentially allowing the Tesla Network to significantly undercut Uber and other established players in the ride-sharing industry.

If Tesla's projections prove accurate, the revenue potential of a single Model 3 will be around $200,000, generating $30,000 gross profit per year for an 11-year lifespan. The network will work like an app store, with Tesla keeping around 30 percent of revenue.

The network will include a mix of privately-owned cars and Tesla-owned vehicles, deployed to areas that need additional capacity.

A few things need to come together for Tesla to kick off its ride-sharing plan, starting with true hands-free self-driving capability and regulatory approval. The company expects its Autopilot Full Self-Driving to be feature complete later this year, though this forecast will presumably be met with skepticism after years of delays.