Tesla Cybercab robotaxis are here. And the world may never be the same again

The Tesla Cybercab was unveiled at the Warner Bro. Studios at Burbank and the event was titled “We, Robot” in an allusion to Isaac Asimov’s collection of science fiction short stories. The Cybercab is driven in as a two-door hatchback with coupe-like styling. The robotaxi takes on a lot of the same design cues from the Cybertruck style sheet and features the unmistakable horizontal light bars in place of headlamp and tail lamp units alongside stainless steel body panels.

The Cybercab will be priced under $30,000 (approximately ₹25.19 lakh), and it does not feature a steering wheel nor a set of pedals. In fact, the only thing you can seemingly do in the car is sit, making it a true driverless experience. The Cybercab is fitted with large disc-type wheel covers and it gets gullwing doors. The interior features two seats, an armrest, and cupholders. There is a large, rectangular infotainment screen to keep occupants occupied, and it seemingly floats at the centre of the dash.

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Musk has said that the Cybercab will cost 20 cents a mile to operate over time, and that it will use inductive charging in place of standard plugs. What this means is that the robotaxi can be charged “wirelessly” through electromagnetic induction. Musk has further confirmed that the cab will rely on cameras and artificial intelligence for Full Self-Driving (FSD), as is characteristic of Tesla EVs, and this is done in order to save costs.

Tesla has showcased another robotaxi alongside the Cybercab and this one is called the Robovan, which comes with the capacity to carry up to 20 passengers. Production timeline and further details about the Robovan have not been stated.

All bark but no bite?

Musk has, for a long time, held promises of delivering a fully-autonomous car that would allow owners to completely take a step back from the wheel. These promises soon evolved into ones that suggested owners would be able to list their privately-owned Tesla cars as robotaxis and make a quick buck out of them. The billionaire CEO has a recurring habit of being a tad too optimistic about timelines, and much to the frustration of his investors, coming short of the grand statements that have been made.

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The earliest promises made about robotaxis were back in 2016, when Musk had stated that self-driving cars were only a few years away. In 2019, he had promised that his fleet of self-driving cars would hit the streets in 2020. The timeline was then pushed all the way till 2024, and as of now, Musk’s driverless vision is slated for production in 2026.

Tesla aims to start unsupervised and fully autonomous drives with its existing models in the states of Texas and California in the US. While production of the Cybercab is set to commence soon after these drives, there are very few details that are currently available about the robotaxi.

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Adding to the list of investor concerns are past problems with the FSD tech and regulatory hurdles that Tesla will likely encounter in their attempt to implement self-driving vehicles. While modern cars do have varying degrees of automation that allows for autonomous driving to some extent, it is not exactly simple, and humans are still needed to remain alert behind the wheel and jump in whenever required.

This is because computers that enable autonomous driving work according to set parameters. In case of unexpected situations that have never occurred before, these computers may end up directing the car to behave erratically, wherein the driver would have to step in.

While Tesla’s FSD has had varying degrees of success, it is not without faults and has come under intense scrutiny several times in the past over accidents that were reportedly avoidable. It remains to be seen whether Musk’s plans for a driverless future will work out as smoothly as he envisions. In the meantime, Tesla will have to face their investor’s calls for concern over the lack of details and demonstration regarding the Cybercab.

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First Published Date: 11 Oct 2024, 11:08 AM IST