[RahulNagaraj]

Tesla has unveiled the long-awaited robotaxi at a recent event in the USA. Officially called the Tesla Cybercab, it borrows design inspiration from the brand's Cybertruck.



The Tesla Cybercab will feature the brand's latest autonomous driving systems and will be available to private customers for purchase. Tesla showcased around 20 Cybercabs at the event, even offering rides to attendees. Company CEO Elon Musk stated that production of the Cybercab will begin sometime before 2027. Once available, it will be priced under $30,000.



In terms of design, the Tesla Cybercab carries forward the brand's clean and minimalistic styling. It features a full LED light bar at the front, similar to that on the Cybertruck. The Cybercab comes with butterfly doors, which open upwards, similar to supercars. It also comes with sharp creases on the bonnet and pronounced rear. The car also misses out on wing mirrors as it's designed to be fully autonomous, while the wheels come with aero covers. Inside, the Tesla Cybercab carries forward the minimalist design, this time without even having a steering wheel or pedals at the front, instead just a large central screen on the dashboard.



Tesla has neither revealed any details of the Cybercab's powertrain nor its range on a single charge.



In addition to the Cybercab, Tesla has also revealed the 'Cybervan' - a fully autonomous vehicle with multiple rows of seating.

Source: Tesla/X

Link to Team-BHP news

[A777R]

You can love or hate the design but you cannot deny it looks damn futuristic. I don't know how the ground clearance on the cybervan would work but legacy automakers should really be scared of dying the way intel is dying right now. The highlight for me though is the Optimus robot, it's scary to imagine an army of these things charging at humans during a war. I guess all we can do is pray that the few who develop and will control these forces in the near future decide to be merciful.

https://youtu.be/IG4wSOzQatE?si=2AA379f69GyooMNI

[14000rpm]

Originally Posted by RahulNagaraj

In addition to the Cybercab, Tesla has also revealed the 'Cybervan' - a fully autonomous vehicle with multiple rows of seating.

]

I believe the Van is called Robovan and not Cybervan. I saw a Video of the event.

[chiekennugget]

It looks very similar to the Volkswagen XL1 prototype.

[NomadSK]

How much of this is a vaporware only time will tell when they haven’t yet achieved level 3 of autonomous driving. I’m not sure, but his body language wasn’t that great either.

I saw the video it was so hilarious to have a human disguised as robot during the great Musk’s entry and waving to the crowd. And what happened to the 25k$ car with no mentioning of it.

Also he was pretty specific about the costing of the vehicle, for shareholder or artificially propping up stocks ?? But totally evasive about other things. He should have emphasized on the insurance thing too.

Looks like shareholders haven’t taken this in good taste as stocks are beaten today.

[prajwalmr62]

I watched the event, and it looked very disappointing.

* A taxi which can carry only 2 people.
* A bus.
* A robot which is most likely controlled by humans.

None of these are really innovative, and in fact some are even behind curve compared to industry leaders. None of them came with a proper road map or an expected price range forget production ready models.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by NomadSK

How much of this is a vaporware only time will tell when they haven’t yet achieved level 3 of autonomous driving. I’m not sure, but his body language wasn’t that great either.

I am not a body language expert neither am I making any autonomous driving predictions but in saying that but these autonomous levels have no co-relation with the actual driving abilities of a car. Infact they do not really test the ability to drive the car in any meaningful way and the categorisation is merely based on the level of attention required by the driver, the best being no driver required at all.

As an example, the so called level 3 system in a Mercedes can only be used upto 40 mph or below on a freeway, must be following another vehicle, no inclement weather or tunnels, daytime only, no flashing lights and no lane changes. Might as well not be there.

On the other hand, this is what Tesla level 2 system can do today

https://youtu.be/lajDCnVG7vQ?si=6rxxmU1pPYX9yQUB

Originally Posted by NomadSK

I saw the video it was so hilarious to have a human disguised as robot during the great Musk’s entry and waving to the crowd. And what happened to the 25k$ car with no mentioning of it.

And why were you expecting product announcements in an autonomy/AI event? Like expect something which makes no sense for the event in question and then be disappointed that they did not?

Originally Posted by NomadSK

Also he was pretty specific about the costing of the vehicle, for shareholder or artificially propping up stocks ?? But totally evasive about other things. He should have emphasized on the insurance thing too.

This was not a Robotaxi launch. I am not even sure if they will be able to launch it in 2026 but the specifics that you are talking about are always announced closer the the launch or on the launch day itself.

Originally Posted by NomadSK

Looks like shareholders haven’t taken this in good taste as stocks are beaten today.

This is Tesla stock in the last 6 months. Please tell me if it makes any sense at any point in time. But if you are so sure that all of this is vaporware, you could short the stock and literally become a millionaire overnight. I have put my word where my mouth is and I buy the stock everytime it comes down. I hope it comes down more so that I can buy more.

[Comrade]

As with any company disclosure, we have use our intelligence instead of going by the company words or critics (haters) words. In case of Tesla, this is more true as it has always been a love-it or hate-it relationship and there doesn’t seem to be any neutral spectator! Here are my opinions on some of the topics pertaining to Tesla.

Level 2 vs Level 5, especially for Robotaxi: Electrek.co says current FSD is capable of ~70 city miles before disengagement. Electrek thinks this is not great but isn’t that enough to run robotaxis in cities like London, NYC, SF or LA? I can understand its not confident inspiring for interstate travels but is robotaxi really meant for Interstate? Further, Tesla can also deploy a bunch of tele-operators just like Waymo does to monitor and reset any issues that arise during a ride.



Remote Controlled Optimus: It was evident during the live telecast that the robots were remote controlled. I think Tesla is still in early stages of this program but they still wanted to showcase what they are working towards. Probably in another 10 years, Optimus will reach the capability they are envisioning. But regardless, why is it bad to have remote controlled robots today or in couple of years? Can’t we think of any situations where remote controlled robots could be useful!

Robotaxi is just two door & two seat: I don’t recall Elon Musk mentioning this at the event but I read it being reported somewhere. Tesla did some number crunching and according to the data, it is mostly either one or two persons traveling most of time. For those use cases, probably two seater makes sense. Anyhow Tesla already has huge fleet of family cars that can be deployed as Robotaxis. Tesla can always integrate its current S3XY + Cybertruck lineup with robotaxi program. There are many naysayers about the hardware (HW3-HW5) being incapable of FSD but if ~70 miles before disengagement is already achieved, then Robotaxi has atleast some deployment capabilities today itself.

Overall this event was nothing new that Tesla already didn’t say previously about their mission. But somehow expectations are always high when it comes to Tesla & Elon Musk. We have to see how other startups & enterprises, with same mission statement, are doing currently. I don’t think Tesla is struggling with any of their mission statements. Yes, they are making ‘slower’ progress than what Elon initially proclaims when announcing these targets but by now, the US stock market has already dialed in the Elon’s-over-promise-under-deliver syndrome into the equations. I am confident Tesla will be one of the companies to crack automation in driving. If not fully autonomous then atleast for use cases like airport rides, cab hails to work or restaurants or school etc.

[SKC-auto]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

As an example, the so called level 3 system in a Mercedes can only be used upto 40 mph or below on a freeway, must be following another vehicle, no inclement weather or tunnels, daytime only, no flashing lights and no lane changes. Might as well not be there.

Just saw a video of Mercedes Level 3 system, it's a joke. This kind of driving was achieved by Tesla before 2019.

How to activate the system.
1) Get on a highway.
2) Find a truck or car going less than 95kmph.
3) Activate the system, it will follow the truck.
4) If the truck changes it's route or goes above 95kmph, take over the driving and find another truck.

https://youtu.be/xlc8EOtxKm8?si=NQStYueaT1md3hEm

Originally Posted by NomadSK

I saw the video it was so hilarious to have a human disguised as robot during the great Musk’s entry and waving to the crowd.

That's a SpaceX astronaut suit, not a human disguised as robot.

[bobbyblr]

Originally Posted by RahulNagaraj

In addition to the Cybercab, Tesla has also revealed the 'Cybervan' - a fully autonomous vehicle with multiple rows of seating.

The Tesla Cybervan might have been a inspiration from I, Robot movie's NS5 Robots delivery truck.

[androdev]

This Robotaxi thing can actually work in Bangalore where drivers are well trained to anticipate and adapt to any potential malfunction or homicidal driving by other vehicles. It just needs to be smart enough to avoid falling in a ditch.