Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveils 'Cybercab' robotaxi
Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk rides in Tesla's robotaxi at an unveilling event in Los Angeles, California.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk showcased on Thursday a long-awaited robotaxi with two gull-wing doors and no steering wheel or pedals and surprised with robovan, betting on a shift in focus from low-priced mass-market cars to robotic vehicles.
At a glitzy unveiling, Musk reached the stage in a “Cybercab” to be produced from 2026 — eventually in high volume — and priced under $30,000 (€27,402).
He then introduced the robovan which can carry up to 20 people though offered few further details.
But Musk, who has a record of missing projections — and himself said he tended to be optimistic with time frames — did not say how quickly Tesla could ramp up robotaxi production, clear inevitable regulatory hurdles, or implement a business plan to leapfrog robotaxi rivals such as Alphabet’s Waymo.
Analysts and industry experts said establishing robotaxis could take years, particularly due to ensuring safety and reliability.
They pointed to accidents as well as the difficulty the technology has responding to scenarios such as inclement weather, complex intersections, and pedestrian behaviour.
However, Musk said autonomous cars could be 10 times safer than humans and drive five to 10 times longer.
Musk had previously said he planned to operate a fleet of self-driving Tesla taxis that passengers can hail through an app.
Individual Tesla owners would also be able to make money on the app by listing their vehicles as robotaxis, he had said. He made no mention of the app at Thursday’s event.
Running the Cybercab will cost 20 cents a mile over time and charging will be inductive, requiring no plugs, Musk said. Operating the robovans will be even cheaper — at 5 cents a mile.
The vehicles will rely on artificial intelligence and cameras rather than hardware common among robotaxi rivals, he said, such as lidar — an approach experts have flagged as challenging both from a technical and regulatory stand point.
Several companies attempting to crack the robotaxi market have suffered billion of dollars in loss, forcing some to shut shop.
Alphabet’s Waymo, with about 700 Jaguar Land Rover cars in its fleet, is the only US firm operating uncrewed robotaxis that collect fares.
Amazon’s Zoox is testing purpose-built vehicles that resemble toaster ovens on wheels and lack manual controls.
General Motors’ Cruise, which uses the Chevrolet Bolt EV, this year indefinitely suspended plans to develop its self-driving “Origin” without controls.
- Reuters
