Tesla presented robots Six months after Elon Musk, California’s Warner Bros. It was named Cybercab during the “We, Robot” event at Discovery Studios. revealed the company was about to launch one. Musk took to the stage in a Cybercab with no steering wheels or pedals, announcing that there were “20 more” when he arrived. He talked about how our current modes of transportation “suck” and how cars are always on standby. He said an autonomous vehicle could be used more. “With autonomy you get your time back… Autonomous cars will be 10 times safer.”
According to him, autonomous transport costs will be so low that they will be comparable to mass transit. Over time, he said, the robotaxi’s operating cost will be 20 cents a mile, 30 to 40 cents with taxes. Tesla expects to sell the Cybercab for less than $30,000, and envisions a future in which people can “shepherd” a fleet, owned by a few, and earn through their ridesharing network. When asked when the model would go on sale, he replied that Tesla will start with a fully autonomous unsupervised Full Sales Drive on the Model 3 and Model Y in Texas and California. The Cybercab is expected to go into production before 2027, but Musk himself admitted that he is “very optimistic about the time frame.” And he said that in 2019, Tesla will have “more than a million robot-axis on the road” within a year.
Talking about Cybercab’s technology, he said it uses artificial intelligence and vision. Tesla has long dropped radars and other sensors like Waymo’s other robotic taxis, which are widely used. Because of this, he said, expensive equipment is not needed and Tesla can keep production costs low. Note that the Cybercab does not come with a charging port and uses inductive charging instead.
Reuters informed back in April, Musk ordered the company to “go all-in” on robotaxis built on a small car platform. Musk previously said there would be a model presented on August 8but later announced that the company would have a robotaxi event pushed back to October after it called for a “significant front-end design change.” The delay will also give the company extra time to “showcase a few other things,” he explained.
In addition to reporting the existence of Robotaxis, Reuters In April, Tesla announced it was canceling plans for a low-cost, $25,000 electric car. Another report, though Musk called it false Electrek is supported Reuters‘ story and cited “sources familiar with the matter” as telling the publication that development of the low-cost EV has been delayed.
After talking about the Cybercab, Musk briefly introduced the Robovan – an autonomous van that can carry up to 20 people and carry cargo. He said it would further lower travel costs because it could carry large groups such as sports teams. Finally, Musk unveiled a parade of Tesla’s humanoid Optimus robots. Musk said that Tesla has made dramatic progress in its development over the past year and that in the future it will teach your children, mow your lawn and even be your friend. He believes Tesla could sell its Optimus robots for between $20,000 and $30,000.
