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Motor vehicle
| Tesla Cybercab | |
|---|---|
 Cybercab on display, November 2024 | |
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Tesla, Inc. |
| Designer | Franz von Holzhausen |
| Body and chassis | |
| Body style | 2-door sedan |
| Powertrain | |
| Battery | ~35 kWh |
| Electric range | ~200 mi (320 km) |
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 autonomous. The prototype vehicles have no steering wheel or pedals.
A concept version of the Cybercab was unveiled in October 2024, with 20 prototypes providing short rides to attendees of the announcement event. Tesla reports production is planned to commence sometime before 2027.
History
Background
In 2019, Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated that he believed Tesla would have one million autonomous robotaxis operating on public roads by the end of 2020; observers speculated that he meant converting already sold Tesla vehicles to be autonomous.
Since approximately 2020, Tesla has made public statements about a mass market electric car product that would follow the Model Y and would be considerably cheaper than the Model 3. In 2022, Musk was advocating inside the company that the robotaxi would be Tesla's next vehicle, but by September 2022, he had reluctantly accepted the recommendation of Tesla executives Franz von Holzhausen and Lars Moravy that the next-generation vehicle platform should support both a small, inexpensive, mass-market car and a robotaxi that would be built with no steering wheel at all, and that both could be manufactured on the platform and use the same next-generation vehicle assembly line. In October 2022, the company stated publicly that the Tesla engineering team had turned its focus to the new platform, and that the company expected the platform would enable cars to be half of the price of the Tesla Model 3 or Y.
In April 2024, Musk announced that the Robotaxi reveal would take place in August, subsequently delayed to October.
Announcement
Musk unveiled the Cybercab at the Tesla We, Robot event held October 10, 2024, at Warner Bros. Studios Burbank in California, where 20 concept Cybercabs were autonomously driving around the studio outlot at night and giving rides to attendees of the event. Musk stated that Tesla intends to produce the Cybercab before 2027. The final name of the vehicle remains unclear, as Tesla used both "Robotaxi" and "Cybercab" throughout the event to refer to the cars. Tesla also demonstrated their humanoid robot, Optimus, at the event and showed off a single concept prototype of a Robovan that could reportedly hold as many as 20 passengers.
The concept Cybercab shown was a two-passenger car, it had two butterfly doors but no door handles as the doors opened automatically. The car had a hatchback opening for cargo, with no external charge port showing on the prototype vehicles. The car had no rear window and no side view mirrors.
The production vehicle design will include inductive charging.
Investor reaction to the announcement was muted, particularly given the long time frame between the announcement and expected start of production. New Scientist noted the Cybercab will not be available for two years while the Waymo self-driving cars are operating on streets today.
On the Tesla investor call on October 23, 2024, Tesla said they were aiming to be in volume production with Cybercab by the end of 2026, and that the annual production goal was 2 million Cybercabs per year, when several factories are at full design capacity.
In October 2024, Alcon Entertainment, a production company that worked on Blade Runner 2049 (2017), sued Musk for apparent similarities between Tesla's marketing of the Cybercab and the film.
Description
The future Tesla Cybercab specs will include the following, according to Tesla:
- two-passenger car
- autonomous operation only; no steering wheel or pedals accessible to passengers
- range: 200 mi (320 km)
- inductive charging with efficiency well above 90%; Musk: "there is no meaningful efficiency difference between inductive and conductive charging if the system is designed right."
- battery capacity: ~35 kWh
Other characteristics:
- expected efficiency 5.5 mi/kWh (8.9 km/kWh)
- A Tesla ridehailing service, in limited internal testing in October 2024
References
- Ford, Martin (September 18, 2021). "Elon Musk's failed Tesla robotaxi promise is the height of self-driving hype". Fast Company. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
At the event, Musk said, 'I feel very confident predicting autonomous robotaxis for Tesla next year.' He went on to suggest that Tesla would have a million such cars operating on public roads by the end of 2020. By 'robotaxis,' Musk meant genuine self-driving cars, capable of operating with no one inside and able to pick up passengers and deliver them to random locations. In other words, a truly robotic version of Uber or Lyft.
- Morris, James (March 4, 2023). "Tesla Investor Day 2023: $25,000 Next Gen Vehicle To Be Made In Mexico". Forbes. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
- Isaacson, Walter (September 12, 2023). Elon Musk. Simon & Schuster. pp. 501–505. ISBN 978-1-982181-28-4. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
- Lambert, Fred (March 2023). "Tesla is working on next-gen electric car platform for half the price". Electrek. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
- "Tesla Delays Robotaxi Event in Blow to Musk's Autonomy Drive". Bloomberg. July 11, 2024.
- ^ Schroeder, Stan (October 11, 2024). "Tesla's 'Cybercab' robotaxi is here, and yet still so far away". Mashable. Retrieved October 11, 2024 – via Yahoo Tech.
Cybercab (or Robotaxi — the name isn't entirely clear right now as both names were used throughout the event)
- Aarian, Marshall (October 9, 2024). "Tesla Is Ready to Roll Out Its Robotaxis". Wired. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
- ^ "Musk Shows Tesla Cybercab, Sees Sub-$30,000 Cost and 2026 Production". Bloomberg News. October 11, 2024. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
- ^ "Tesla's robovan is the surprise of the night". The Verge. October 11, 2024. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
- Hawkins, Andrew J. (October 11, 2024). "Tesla Cybercab announced: Elon Musk's robotaxi is finally here". The Verge. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
- Anderson, Brad (October 10, 2024). "Tesla Cybercab Is A $30,000 Robotaxi Without A Steering Wheel Or Pedals". Carscoops. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
- "Tesla Cybercab Robotaxi unveiled: 5 insane highlights". HT Auto. October 11, 2024. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
- Forlini, Emily Dreibelbis (October 11, 2024). "Tesla's Robotaxi Event: Mostly Fluff, Except for One Interesting Technical Detail". PCMag Australia. ISSN 1329-3532.
- "Elon Musk's Tesla Cybercab is a hollow promise of a robotaxi future". New Scientist. October 11, 2024. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
- "'Blade Runner 2049' Producers Sue Elon Musk Over 'Robotaxi' Imagery". The New York Times.
- ^ "Tesla's Cybercab Wireless Charging Video May Tell Us A Lot". Inside EVs. October 18, 2024. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
- "Tesla has been testing a robotaxi service in the Bay Area for most of the year". The Verge. October 23, 2024. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
