Obviously, one should not equate the timing of the entry to the market of Cybercab, specially designed for working in taxis, with the launch by Tesla of a service for transporting passengers using unmanned electric vehicles. The head of the company, Elon Musk, admitted this week that it has been testing this service with its employees in San Francisco for several months.
Image Source: Tesla
In fact, in this area of California, prototypes of self-driving taxis are moving in the form of existing Tesla models with the latest version of FSD software, and there are always safety drivers behind the wheel. Company employees traveling in this area on their business have the opportunity to call a conditionally unmanned taxi through the Tesla proprietary application. The company is already testing its various functions, such as saving a settings profile for a specific user from the application on each of the vehicles involved in transportation. By the second quarter of next year, as Musk put it, Tesla’s software should be able to handle the driver’s job “a thousand times better” than the average person.
Next year, Tesla hopes to begin commercial operation of similar self-driving taxis in California and Texas, and anticipates that obtaining government approval will be easier in the latter state.
Elon Musk did not neglect the topic of preparing for production in 2026 of a specialized Cybercab taxi without a steering wheel or pedals. A prototype of the car was unveiled this month at an event in Los Angeles. It provides the ability to automatically move two people and a decent amount of luggage along a given route. The traction battery will be recharged wirelessly, so servicing such a taxi fleet will require minimal human presence.
The company intends to produce Cybercab from 2026, using the very promising platform that will eventually make it possible to create electric cars worth $25,000. When releasing Cybercab, advanced technological processes will be used, over time, annual production volumes will reach 2 million cars per year, and in the future they may double from this level. In addition, the new platform will have high energy conversion efficiency, which, combined with the good aerodynamics of the Cybercab, will reduce its consumption to less than 12 kWh per 100 km. Tesla’s official presentation notes that the car will be able to travel 5.5 miles using 1 kWh of electricity. The company plans to produce Cybercab at several of its enterprises at once. Tesla already has a fleet of 20 cars of this model, which have demonstrated the ability to drive all night in tests without a single accident.