The Tesla CEO recently unveiled ‘Cybercab’ and ‘Robovan,’ which aim to operate a fleet of self-driving Tesla taxis that passengers can hail through an app.
On Thursday, Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO, at a much-hyped event “We, Robot” at the Warner Bros studio near Los Angeles, California, unveiled a 2-door robotaxi with gull-wing doors and no steering wheel or pedals. With this, he stuck to his long-held promises of autonomous cars driving long-term growth at the electric vehicle maker. He went on stage at the event in a “Cybercab” and said that the production would start in 2026, with the vehicles being available to buy for less than $30,000.
Elon Musk unveiled Cybercab at the event.
After traveling to the stage in a cybercab, Musk said the production of the same would begin in 2026 and would be available to buy for less than $30,000. He said, “The autonomous future is here. We have 50 fully autonomous cars here tonight. You’ll see model Ys and the Cybercab. All driverless. He said that Cybercab will cost 20 cents a mile to operate over time and will use inductive chargers without requiring any plugs. They will also rely only on cameras and AI without needing other hardware that robotaxi players use.
Musk also unveiled a self-driving vehicle, “Robovan.”
At the event, Elon Musk also unveiled a self-driving car, “Robovan,” capable of carrying up to 20 people, and showed off Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot. Though excitement and enthusiasm were on display on social media for weeks around the event, investors and analysts have flagged challenges with the technology and reined in expectations. Musk plans to operate a fleet of self-driving Tesla taxis that passengers can hail through an app. Also, individual Tesla owners will be able to make money on the app by listing their vehicles as robotaxis.
The We, Robot event is an apparent nod to the “I, Robot” science-fiction short stories by American writer Isaac Asimov, but also echoes Musk’s insistence that Tesla “should be thought of as an AI robotics company” rather than an automaker.