Tesla Robovan

Last updated

Tesla Robovan
Tesla Robovan concept van, as unveiled, October 2024.jpg
Overview
Manufacturer Tesla, Inc.
Designer Franz von Holzhausen
Body and chassis
Body style Van

The Tesla Robovan is an electric autonomous van planned for future development by Tesla. [1] Announced in October 2024, the vehicle is being designed to carry up to 20 passengers. [2]

Contents

History

Background

The Tesla Master Plan Part Deux, released in 2016, suggested the development of a "people-mover," [3] and in 2022 Tesla CEO Elon Musk spoke of the development of a "highly configurable Robovan for people & cargo." [4]

The future large vehicle was teased at Tesla's 2023 Investor Day in March 2023, [1] and the Tesla Master Plan Part 3, released a month later, outlined the production of a commercial van as part of the two vehicles it was going to launch along with a robotaxi. [5]

Announcement

A concept version of the autonomous electric Robovan was unveiled on 10 October 2024 at the "We, Robot" event at Warner Brothers Studio in Los Angeles, with a prototype driving up near the main stage, and 14 people exited the vehicle. The Cybercab and the first free-walking Optimus humanoid robots were the principal features of the event. [1]

The Robovan can carry up to 20 passengers and also work separately as a cargo van. [6] TechCrunch said the vehicle had a "retro-futuristic look" with no steering wheel. [1] Tesla CEO Elon Musk said "We’re going to make this, and it’s going to look like that." [1] [6] The Robovan is intended to operate on the Tesla Network, Tesla's ridehailing service for self-driving vehicles. [2]

No further production or cost details were released. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elon Musk</span> South African-born businessman (born 1971)

Elon Reeve Musk is a businessman known for his key roles in the space company SpaceX and the automotive company Tesla, Inc. His other involvements include ownership of X Corp., the company that operates the social media platform X, and his role in the founding of the Boring Company, xAI, Neuralink, and OpenAI. Musk is the wealthiest individual in the world; as of December 2024, Forbes estimates his net worth to be US$344 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tesla, Inc.</span> American electric vehicle and clean energy company

Tesla, Inc. is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, it designs, manufactures and sells battery electric vehicles (BEVs), stationary battery energy storage devices from home to grid-scale, solar panels and solar shingles, and related products and services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missy Cummings</span> American space systems engineer and Navy pilot

Mary Louise "Missy" Cummings is an American academic who was a professor at Duke University and director of Duke's Humans and Autonomy Laboratory. She was one of the United States Navy's first female fighter pilots. In November 2021, Dr. Cummings joined the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). She currently teaches at George Mason University.

From 2014 until 2024, Apple undertook a research and development effort to develop an electric and self-driving car, codenamed "Project Titan". Apple never openly discussed any of its automotive research, but around 5,000 employees were reported to be working on the project as of 2018. In May 2018, Apple reportedly partnered with Volkswagen to produce an autonomous employee shuttle van based on the T6 Transporter commercial vehicle platform. In August 2018, the BBC reported that Apple had 66 road-registered driverless cars, with 111 drivers registered to operate those cars. In 2020, it was believed that Apple was still working on self-driving related hardware, software and service as a potential product, instead of actual Apple-branded cars. In December 2020, Reuters reported that Apple was planning on a possible launch date of 2024, but analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed it would not be launched before 2025 and might not be launched until 2028 or later.

A robotaxi, also known as robot taxi, robo-taxi, self-driving taxi or driverless taxi, is an autonomous car operated for a ridesharing company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tesla Autopilot</span> Suite of advanced driver-assistance system features by Tesla

Tesla Autopilot is an advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) developed by Tesla that amounts to partial vehicle automation. Tesla provides "Base Autopilot" on all vehicles, which includes lane centering and traffic-aware cruise control. Owners may purchase or subscribe to Full Self-Driving (FSD) which adds semi-autonomous navigation that responds to traffic lights and stop signs, lane change assistance, self-parking, and the ability to summon the car from a garage or parking spot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tesla Semi</span> Electric Class 8 semi-trailer truck

The Tesla Semi is a battery electric semi-trailer truck built by Tesla, Inc. since 2022. The truck is powered by three motors, and according to Tesla has approximately three times the power of a typical diesel semi truck, a range of 500 miles (800 km), and can operate at an energy use of less than two kilowatt-hours per mile (1.2 kW⋅h/km).

Tesla, Inc., an electric vehicle manufacturer and clean energy company founded in San Carlos, California in 2003 by American entrepreneurs Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. The company is named after Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla. Tesla is the world's leading electric vehicle manufacturer, and, as of the end of 2021, Tesla's cumulative global vehicle sales totaled 2.3 million units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Boring Company</span> American infrastructure and tunneling company

The Boring Company (TBC) is an American infrastructure, tunnel construction services, and equipment company founded by Elon Musk. TBC was founded as a subsidiary of SpaceX in 2017, and was spun off as a separate corporation in 2018. TBC has completed one tunneling project that is open to the public, as well as multiple test tunnels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tesla Roadster (second generation)</span> Upcoming electric sports car from Tesla

The Tesla Roadster is an upcoming battery electric four-seater sports car to be built by Tesla, Inc. The company said it will be capable of accelerating from 0 to 60 mph in 1.9 seconds, which would be quicker than any street legal production car to date at its announcement in November 2017. The Roadster is the successor to Tesla's first production car, the 2008 Roadster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoox (company)</span> American company developing self-driving taxis

Zoox, Inc. is an American technology company subsidiary of Amazon developing autonomous vehicles that provide mobility as a service. It is headquartered in Foster City, California and has offices of operations in the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle, Washington. Zoox sits in the Amazon Devices & Services organization alongside other Amazon units like Amazon Lab126, Amazon Alexa, and Kuiper Systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tesla Cybertruck</span> Electric pickup truck

The Tesla Cybertruck is a battery electric pickup truck built by Tesla, Inc. since 2023. Introduced as a concept vehicle in November 2019, it has a controversial body design reminiscent of low-polygon modelling, consisting of flat stainless steel sheet panels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">XPeng</span> Chinese car company

Guangzhou Xiaopeng Motors Technology Co., Ltd., trading as XPeng Motors, commonly known as XPeng, is a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer. The company is headquartered in Guangzhou, Guangdong, with offices in Mountain View, California, United States and Munich, Germany. XPeng stock is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avride</span> Robotaxi project

Avride Inc. is a developer of self-driving cars and delivery robots. It is organized in Delaware and headquartered in Austin, Texas, with offices in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Tel Aviv, and Seoul. It is a subsidiary of Nebius Group and was formerly an affiliate of Yandex called Yandex SDG.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Optimus (robot)</span> Humanoid robot being developed by Tesla

Optimus, also known as Tesla Bot, is a general-purpose robotic humanoid under development by Tesla, Inc. It was announced at the company's Artificial Intelligence (AI) Day event on August 19, 2021, and a prototype was shown in 2022. CEO Elon Musk stated in 2022 that he thinks Optimus "has the potential to be more significant than [Tesla's] vehicle business over time." Media and expert opinions based on corporate showcases have been mixed.

The Tesla next-generation vehicle is an electric car platform under development by Tesla after 2022. This will be the third mainstream platform for the company, and it is expected that production volumes will greatly surpass those of the Model 3/Y platform. Although the mainline drivable vehicle has not been given an official name, the moniker Model 2 has been used to refer to the vehicle in the media. A fully-autonomous driverless version of the platform was unveiled in October 2024, called the Cybercab.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tesla Cybercab</span> Forthcoming fully-autonomous electric car

The Tesla Cybercab, also known as the Robotaxi, is an upcoming two-passenger battery-electric self-driving car under development by Tesla. The vehicle is planned to be fully autonomously controlled; the prototype has no steering wheel or pedals.

The Tesla Network is a forthcoming autonomous ridehailing service being developed by Tesla, Inc. for its vehicles, including the Cybercab, the Robovan, and other personally-owned Tesla electric vehicles.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Elon Musk unveils the Robovan: the biggest surprise from Tesla's We, Robot event". TechCrunch. 10 October 2024. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Tesla's robovan is the surprise of the night". The Verge. 10 October 2024.
  3. "Master Plan, Part Deux". tesla.com. 20 July 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  4. "Tesla Robovan could arrive in 2024 based on Cybertruck platform". drive.com.au. 14 December 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  5. "Master Plan Part 3". 5 April 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  6. 1 2 "The Tesla Robovan Is Elon Musk's Vision of Group Transport for the Future". roadandtrack.com. 10 October 2024. Retrieved 25 October 2024.