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Elon Musk showed off a two-door, “seagull-wing” robotics with no steering wheel or pedals at a high-profile event on Thursday, adding a robot to the list as Tesla’s focus shifts from a maker of low-cost, mass-market cars to a maker of robotics.
Musk took the stage in the Cybercab, which he says will go into production in 2026 and will cost less than $30,000. He said the operation would cost 20 cents per mile over time and charging would be inductive, without plugs.
He said the cars rely on artificial intelligence and cameras and don’t need other hardware like that used by robotaxi competitors — an approach that investors and analysts have cited as challenging from both a technical and regulatory perspective.
“The autonomous future is here,” Musk said. “We have 50 fully autonomous cars here tonight. You will see Model Ys and Cybercab. All without a driver.”
Musk also showed off a larger, self-driving vehicle — called the Robovan — capable of carrying up to 20 people, and showed off Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot.
Musk’s plan is to operate a fleet of self-driving Tesla taxis that passengers can hail via an app. Individual Tesla owners will also be able to earn money from the app by listing their vehicles as robotics.
Thursday’s event at Warner Bros. studios near Los Angeles, California, is titled “We the Robot” – an obvious nod to American writer Isaac Asimov’s “I the Robot” sci-fi stories, but also echoes Musk’s insistence that Tesla “should be seen as an AI robotics company,” not a car manufacturer.
Investors, stock analysts and Tesla fans were among the attendees.
Investors waiting for concrete details on how quickly Tesla can ramp up robotics production, secure regulatory approval and implement a strong business plan to leapfrog rivals like Alphabet’s Waymo were left disappointed.
“Everything looks great, but not much in terms of timing, I’m a shareholder and I’m quite disappointed. I think the market wanted more definitive timelines,” said Dennis Dick, an equity trader at Triple D Trading. “I don’t think he said much about anything… He didn’t give much information.”
Musk said he tends to be optimistic about the time frames.
PROMISES FULFILLED
Musk said in 2019 that he was “very confident” the company would have working robots by next year. After the missed promises, Musk shifted his focus to vehicle development this year after abandoning plans to build a smaller, cheaper car that was widely seen as important to countering slowing demand for electric cars.
Tesla is at risk of posting its first drop in shipments this year as purchase incentives failed to attract enough customers to its aging lineup of electric vehicles. Sharp price cuts designed to offset high interest rates also squeezed profit margins.
The complex technology and strict regulation have led to billions of dollars in losses for other companies trying to break into the robotics market, forcing some to close shop.
Some are still pushing, including General Motors’ Cruise, Amazon’s Zoox and Chinese firms like WeRide.
Unlike the expensive hardware like lidar that others use, Musk relies only on cameras and AI to drive the FSD to keep costs down. But FSD, which requires constant driver attention, has faced regulatory and legal scrutiny with at least two fatal accidents involving the technology.
“We really look forward to launching fully autonomous unsupervised FSD in Texas and California next year. Musk said. “It’s with the Model 3 and the Model Y.”
He did not say whether the robotaxi would use any new technology or depend on FSD.
(This story was not edited by News18 staff and was published by a syndicated news agency feed – Reuters)
