Tesla CEO Elon Musk officially unveiled the unmanned Cybercab electric car, which does not have a traditional steering wheel and pedals in its design. The new product has a futuristic design, compact dimensions and can accommodate only two people. At the same time, the electric car will offer a very affordable price.
Image source: Tesla
Cybercab features a futuristic design, highlighted by upward-opening doors. At the same time, the interior of the car is small; it can accommodate only two passengers. The electric car lacks not only a steering wheel and pedals, but also an interface for charging the battery pack. According to Musk, the car supports inductive charging technology, which allows you to replenish energy wirelessly.
During the presentation, the head of Tesla said that self-driving cars are expected to be 10-20 times safer than human-driven vehicles. In addition, travel in such a car will cost $0.20 per mile, while travel on city buses costs $1 per mile. Tesla plans to bring the Cybercab to the roads of Texas and California next year, with the robotaxi scheduled to begin production in 2026. “This is a very big deal. This will save lives, many lives, and also prevent injuries,” says the businessman.
Musk showed off a robotaxi prototype at the Tesla We, Robot event, which took place on one of the Warner Bros. film sets. in California. To demonstrate the capabilities of the car, non-public roads were used. According to the source, Tesla carried out mapping of the area ahead of the demonstration, although the company says it does not use high-definition maps to power its Full Self-Driving autopilot system.
Musk is trying to move Tesla away from its core business of producing and selling electric vehicles and towards creating robots and technologies based on artificial intelligence. Tesla’s market value is equal to almost every other global automaker combined. Much of the company’s share price is based on Musk’s decades-long promise to solve the problem of autonomy by creating a truly revolutionary car that can go anywhere on its own. Whether Tesla’s robotaxi will be able to solve this problem remains to be seen.
Musk didn’t provide any details about where exactly Tesla plans to build these vehicles, but said consumers will be able to buy a Tesla Cybercab for under $30,000. According to him, the company hopes to begin mass production of the Cybercab before 2027.