Tesla unveils its “Cybercab” on October 10, 2024 in Burbank, California.
After a decade of unfulfilled guarantees about driverless automobiles, Tesla CEO Elon Musk hyped the corporate’s Cybercab idea on Thursday evening, displaying off a low, silver two-seater with no steering wheels or pedals.
Rolling as much as the stage in a Cybercab nearly an hour after the corporate’s “We, Robotic” occasion was supposed to start, Musk mentioned the corporate had 21 of those automobiles, and a complete of fifty “autonomous” vehicles on-location on the Warner Bros. studio in Burbank, California the place Tesla hosted its invitation-only occasion.
Musk provided no particulars about precisely the place Tesla plans to supply the vehicles, however mentioned shoppers would have the ability to purchase a Tesla Cybercab for beneath $30,000. He mentioned the corporate hopes to be producing the Cybercab earlier than 2027
He additionally mentioned he expects Tesla to have “unsupervised FSD” up and working in Texas and California subsequent 12 months within the firm’s Mannequin 3 and Mannequin Y electrical automobiles.
FSD, which stands for Full Self-Driving, is Tesla’s premium driver help system, out there right this moment in a “supervised” model for Tesla electrical automobiles. FSD at the moment requires a human driver on the wheel, able to steer or brake at any time. Earlier this 12 months, Tesla tacked “supervised” onto the product title.
“It is going to be an excellent future,” Musk mentioned on Thursday evening.
Musk additionally revealed plans to supply an autonomous, electrical Robovan that may carry as much as 20 individuals, or be used to move items. He mentioned it should “clear up for top density,” transporting a sports activities group, for instance.
He mentioned the Cybercab and Robovan would make use of inductive charging, which means these autonomous automobiles may roll as much as a station to recharge, with no plugging in required.
Tesla unveils its RoboVan on the We, Robotic occasion on October 10, 2024.
Musk has spent years touting Tesla’s work in autonomous vehicles and promising that they’d hit the market. Alongside the best way, he is repeatedly woven a fantastical imaginative and prescient for shareholders, setting and lacking his personal deadlines.
In 2015, Musk instructed shareholders that Tesla vehicles would obtain “full autonomy” inside three years. They did not. In 2016, Musk mentioned a Tesla automotive would have the ability to make a cross-country drive with out requiring any human intervention earlier than the top of 2017. That by no means occurred. And in 2019, on a name with institutional buyers that might assist him increase greater than $2 billion, Musk mentioned Tesla would have 1 million robotaxi-ready automobiles on the highway in 2020, capable of full 100 hours of driving work per week every, earning money for his or her homeowners.
In April this 12 months, Musk was nonetheless telling buyers autonomy is the corporate’s future.
“If someone would not imagine Tesla’s going to unravel autonomy, I feel they shouldn’t be an investor within the firm,” he mentioned on a name with analysts. “We’ll, and we’re.”
At Thursday evening’s occasion, which he beforehand characterised as a “product launch,” Musk welcomed attendees to the “celebration,” and mentioned they’d have the ability to take check rides within the autonomous automobiles on location, within the closed setting of the film studio tons.
It was Tesla’s first product unveiling because the firm first confirmed off the design for its Cybertruck in 2019. The angular metal pickup started delivery to clients in late 2023, and has been the topic of 5 voluntary recollects since then within the U.S.
WATCH: Robotaxi occasion video
