Cybercab announced by Elon Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled the company’s long-awaited robotaxi, CyberCab, at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California.

In a futuristic-looking vehicle with two wing-like doors and no pedals or steering wheel, Musk sat in front of an audience eager to hear details about a project he believes is key to Tesla’s next chapter. appeared on.

At the event, titled “We, Robot,” the billionaire said he believes fully self-driving cars are safer than human-driven ones and that owners can make money by renting them out as vehicles. reiterated his opinion.

But Musk’s prediction that production would begin “before 2027” raised questions about whether he would once again miss his deadline.

“I tend to be optimistic about time frames,” he joked during the event.

He said CyberCab, which will compete with rivals such as Alphabet’s Waymo, would cost less than $30,000 (£23,000).

But analysts have questioned how realistic that plan is.

“It would be extremely difficult for Tesla to offer a new car at that price in that time frame,” said Research Forrester’s Paul Miller.

“Without external subsidies, or without Tesla losing money on all of its vehicles, it doesn’t seem realistic to launch at anything close to that price in this decade,” he added.

Musk also said he expects “fully autonomous, unsupervised” technology to be available in Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y in Texas and California next year “with regulatory approval.” Ta.

However, that approval is not guaranteed.

“There are big safety concerns because it’s a big chunk of metal moving at high speed on the road,” said Samitha Samaranayake, an associate professor at Cornell University’s School of Engineering.

Tesla’s self-driving ambitions rely on cameras that are cheaper than the radar or lidar (light detection and ranging) sensors that are the technology backbone of many competitors’ vehicles.

Tesla plans to teach its cars to drive using artificial intelligence (AI) trained on raw data collected from millions of vehicles.

But the research community is “unconvinced that Tesla’s approach can provide the safety guarantees we want,” Samaranayake said.

The CyberCab project was originally scheduled for release in August, but has been delayed.

This summer, Musk said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that the wait times were due to design changes he felt were important.

Meanwhile, competing robotaxis are already operating on some U.S. roads.

Tesla also appears poised to record its first-ever annual sales decline as competitors enter the electric vehicle market, despite slowing sales.

Despite that sombre backdrop, Tuesday’s event was full of spectacle, with Tesla’s humanoid robot dancing and offering drinks to attendees.

Musk also unveiled another prototype of a Robovan that can carry up to 20 passengers at a time.

Dan Ives, managing director at Wedbush Securities, who attended the event in person, said the sophisticated shuttle “could be Tesla’s mode of transportation for years to come.”

Another analyst said the event felt like a return down memory lane while also pointing the way forward.

“Musk has done a great job envisioning an ideal future for transportation that promises to free up our time and make us safer,” said Jessica Caldwell, head of insights at Edmunds. said.

But despite his showmanship, there are doubts whether he will be able to realize his vision.

“Many questions remain about how to achieve this from a practical standpoint,” Caldwell added.

The introduction of robotaxis has suffered setbacks, with service suspended in San Francisco after a driverless vehicle operated by General Motors subsidiary Cruise struck a pedestrian.

However, this field continues to expand.

Waymo announced in early October that it would add the Hyundai Ioniq 5 to its robotaxis fleet after conducting road tests using its technology.

Ride-hailing giant Uber also wants to add more self-driving cars to its fleet to expand delivery and ride-sharing options for customers.

In August, the company announced a multi-year partnership with self-driving car developer Cruise.

Chinese tech company Baidu is also reportedly looking to expand its robot taxi division, Apollo Go, beyond China, with the vehicles operating in multiple cities.