Tesla CEO Musk unveils futuristic two-door robotaxi – VIDEO / UPDATED
Tesla CEO Elon Musk showcased a two-door robotaxi with gull-wing doors and no steering wheel or pedals at a much-hyped event on October 10, sticking to long-held promises of autonomous cars driving long-term growth at the electric vehicle maker.
Musk traveled to the stage in a "Cybercab" and said production will start in 2026 with the vehicles being available to buy for less than $30,000, News.Az reports, citing Reuters."The autonomous future is here," Musk said. "We have 50 fully autonomous cars here tonight. You'll see model Ys and the Cybercab. All driverless."
#Tesla has entered the robotaxi arena.
— News.Az (@news_az) October 11, 2024
CEO #ElonMusk on Thursday unveiled the company's autonomous #Robotaxi vehicle during its We, Robot event at #warnerbros. Studios in #LosAngeles. The car shown off is of a silver-chrome hue and features no steering wheel or pedals. It'll… pic.twitter.com/ocL3b5hIIb
The Cybercab will cost 20 cents a mile to operate over time, use inductive chargers and not require any plugs. They will also rely only on cameras and artificial intelligence, without the need for other hardware that robotaxi players use.
Musk also showcased a larger, self-driving vehicle - called Robovan - capable of carrying up to 20 people, and showed off Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot.
Enthusiasm around the event has been on display across social media for weeks, with screenshots of invites and speculation on what might be disclosed. But investors and analysts have flagged challenges with the technology and reined in expectations.
Musk's plan is to operate a fleet of self-driving Tesla taxis that passengers can hail through an app. Individual Tesla owners will also be able to make money on the app by listing their vehicles as robotaxis.
Thursday's event at the Warner Bros studio near Los Angeles, California, is titled "We, Robot" - 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.
RECOMMENDED STORIES
Tesla boss Elon Musk is to unveil a prototype of the firm's long-awaited robotaxi, the Cybercab, at the Warner Bros Studios in Burbank, California on Thursday, News.Az reports citing BBC .
Self-driving cars have long fascinated Mr Musk and he has made a series of bold predictions about them - including that they will save lives or earn their owners money, through being rented out for rides or even overnight stays.
But when he takes to the stage for Tesla's "We, Robot" event he will be under pressure to quell doubts about whether the company can deliver on those ambitions.
The project has already undergone delays, having been originally due for release in August - and some analysts also say it is a distraction for a company that should be focussing on releasing a lower cost electric vehicle (EV).
Meanwhile, robotaxis developed by driverless car rivals such as Waymo, owned by Google's parent company Alphabet, are already operating on some US roads.
Mr Musk explained away the latest delay to Tesla's robotaxi offering by saying, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), that it was down to some last minute changes from him.
But analysts say it is now time for the company to show real progress with the project.
"There is certainly heavy build-up after discussing the Robotaxi concept without concrete details for so long," said Jessica Caldwell of edmunds.com.
"The expectation is that this event should clear the air on the concept," Caldwell added, saying it would be a "letdown" if Tesla failed to reveal a developed concept and operational details on Thursday.
Elon Musk has previously been keen to have the media attend his product launches.
But, despite multiple enquiries, the BBC did not secure an invitation to Tesla's Cybercab unveiling.
An anchor at Bloomberg TV has also posted publicly on X about wanting to cover the event in person - even tagging Mr Musk directly - without success.
It will be livestreamed on X at 19:00 Pacific Time in the US on Thursday, or approximately 03:00 in the UK on Friday morning.
Similar news
