Tesla Cybercab

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Tesla Cybercab
Body and chassis
Layout 2-door
Doors Butterfly

The Tesla Cybercab, or Tesla Robotaxi, is an upcoming two-passenger battery-electric self-driving car under development by Tesla Inc. The vehicle will be fully autonomously controlled, and has no steering wheel or pedals.

Contents

A concept version of the Cybercab was unveiled in October 2024, with 20 prototypes providing short rides to attendees of the announcement event. Production is planned to commence sometime before 2027.

History

Background

In 2019, Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated that he believed Tesla would have one million autonomous robotaxis operating on public roads by the end of 2020; observers speculated that he meant converting already sold Tesla vehicles to be autonomous. [1]

Since approximately 2020, Tesla has made public statements about a mass market electric car product that would follow the Model Y [2] and would be considerably cheaper than the Model 3. In 2022, Musk was advocating inside the company that the robotaxi would be Tesla's next vehicle, but by September 2022, he had reluctantly accepted the recommendation of Tesla executives Franz von Holzhausen and Lars Moravy that the next-generation vehicle platform should support both a small, inexpensive, mass-market car and a robotaxi that would be built with no steering wheel at all, and that both could be manufactured on the platform and use the same next-generation vehicle assembly line. [3] In October 2022, the company stated publicly that the Tesla engineering team had turned its focus to the new platform, and that the company expected the platform would enable cars to be half of the price of the Tesla Model 3 or Y. [4]

In April 2024, Musk announced that the Robotaxi reveal would take place in August, subsequently delayed to October. [5]

Announcement

Musk unveiled the Cybercab on October 10, 2024, at Warner Bros. Studios Burbank in California, where 20 concept Cybercabs were autonomously driving around the studio outlot at night and giving rides to attendees of the event. [6] [7] Musk stated that Tesla intends to produce the Cybercab before 2027. [8] The final name of the vehicle was unclear, as Tesla used both "Robotaxi" and "Cybercab" throughout the event to refer to the cars. [6] Tesla also showed off a single concept prototype of a Robovan that could reportedly hold as many as 20 passengers. [9]

The concept Cybercab is a two-passenger car [10] with two butterfly doors, no door handles as the doors opened automatically, and a hatchback opening for cargo, with no external charge port showing on the prototype vehicles. The car had no rear window and no side view mirrors. [11] [12] The production vehicle design will include inductive charging. [6] [13]

Investor reaction to the announcement was muted, particularly given the long time frame between the announcement and expected start of production. [8] New Scientist noted the Cybercab will not be available for two years while the Waymo self-driving cars are operating on streets today. [14]

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References

  1. ↑ Ford, Martin (September 18, 2021). "Elon Musk's failed Tesla robotaxi promise is the height of self-driving hype". Fast Company. Retrieved April 10, 2024. At the [2019 Autonomy Day] event, Musk said, 'I feel very confident predicting autonomous robotaxis for Tesla next year.' He went on to suggest that Tesla would have a million such cars operating on public roads by the end of 2020. By 'robotaxis,' Musk meant genuine self-driving cars, capable of operating with no one inside and able to pick up passengers and deliver them to random locations. In other words, a truly robotic version of Uber or Lyft.
  2. ↑ Morris, James (March 4, 2023). "Tesla Investor Day 2023: $25,000 Next Gen Vehicle To Be Made In Mexico". Forbes . Retrieved October 10, 2024.
  3. ↑ Isaacson, Walter (September 12, 2023). Elon Musk. Simon & Schuster. pp. 501–505. ISBN   978-1-9821-8128-4 . Retrieved November 28, 2023.
  4. ↑ Lambert, Fred (March 2023). "Tesla is working on next-gen electric car platform for half the price". Electrek . Retrieved October 10, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Tesla Delays Robotaxi Event in Blow to Musk's Autonomy Drive". Bloomberg. July 11, 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 Schroeder, Stan (October 11, 2024). "Tesla's 'Cybercab' robotaxi is here, and yet still so far away". Mashable. Retrieved October 11, 2024– via Yahoo Tech. Cybercab (or Robotaxi — the name isn't entirely clear right now as both names were used throughout the event)
  7. ↑ Aarian, Marshall (October 9, 2024). "Tesla Is Ready to Roll Out Its Robotaxis". Wired . Retrieved October 9, 2024.
  8. 1 2 "Musk Shows Tesla Cybercab, Sees Sub-$30,000 Cost and 2026 Production". Bloomberg News . October 11, 2024. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
  9. ↑ "Tesla's robovan is the surprise of the night". The Verge. October 11, 2024. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
  10. ↑ Hawkins, Andrew J. (October 11, 2024). "Tesla Cybercab announced: Elon Musk's robotaxi is finally here". The Verge. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  11. ↑ Anderson, Brad (October 10, 2024). "Tesla Cybercab Is A $30,000 Robotaxi Without A Steering Wheel Or Pedals". Carscoops. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  12. ↑ "Tesla Cybercab Robotaxi unveiled: 5 insane highlights". HT Auto. October 11, 2024. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  13. ↑ Forlini, Emily Dreibelbis (October 11, 2024). "Tesla's Robotaxi Event: Mostly Fluff, Except for One Interesting Technical Detail". PCMag Australia. ISSN   1329-3532.
  14. ↑ "Elon Musk's Tesla Cybercab is a hollow promise of a robotaxi future". New Scientist . October 11, 2024. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
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