Elon Musk says self-driving tech could mean consumers will have a limited time to buy Teslas at current prices
Elon Musk has made no secret of his ambitions to create a fleet of self-driving electric Tesla "robotaxis" that can one day ferry customers from place to place without a driver. But, now the billionaire Tesla CEO is also warning potential Tesla owners that his company's electric vehicles will likely become much more expensive once his Tesla robotaxi dream becomes a reality.

Musk indicated in a series of Twitter posts on Sunday that consumers may have a limited amount of time to buy a Tesla at the electric cars' current prices — the average sale price of Tesla's Model 3, S and X vehicles was roughly $66,800 in the final quarter of 2018, according to research firm CFRA — because the ability to create a fleet of self-driving taxis would make Tesla's vehicles far more valuable than they are now.

A Twitter follower asked Musk on Sunday night if "consumers have limited time left to buy a Tesla car" based on the fact that supply and demand would likely necessitate major price hikes by Tesla if the company is, in fact, able to establish a successful robotaxi service. The billionaire responded, "Yes."

Musk then elaborated on his response, clarifying that Tesla will continue selling cars to consumers, even if the company starts building self-driving electric cars for a Tesla ride-hailing service — but, the prices that consumers will pay in that scenario would be significantly higher than they are now.

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A Tesla spokesperson told CNBC Make It the company would not elaborate beyond Musk's tweets on any potential future consumer price hikes.

So, why would the cost of Teslas increase if the company launches its own fleet of self-driving taxis? Musk explains on Twitter that "a fully autonomous car that can function as a robotaxi is several times more valuable than a non-autonomous car." In other words, rather than selling a Tesla for an upfront price of tens of thousands of dollars, Teslas could instead be used as robotaxis that could potentially continue earning money for the company for years as part of a ride-hailing service.