Peter Lyon
October 13, 2024
Last week, Elon Musk unveiled his latest idea—a 2-door self-driving taxi called the Cybercab. Hang on, a 2-door taxi? As eyebrows around the automotive world shot skywards at the idea of a seemingly impractical 2-door cab, Tesla justified it by saying that the vast majority of taxi rides are for one or two people anyway.
So is this what the future will look like? According to Musk, the answer is ‘yes.’
One social media post claims that the Cybercab (or Robotaxi) would be staging a significant event that would outline Tesla’s futuristic plans that include a Cybercab, a 20-person capable self-driving Cybervan and the scarily lifelike Optimus robot, that poignantly reminds us of the terrifying ‘i Robot’ movie starring Will Smith.
However, we feel compelled to remind you that whatever Tesla displayed on yesterday’s “We, Robot” livestream is still firmly stuck in the concept phase and as such, is fantasy. It’s likely going to be a while before these technologies become a reality, and even then, certain goalposts will likely be shifted.
To understand what we mean, you need just glance at the Tesla Cybertruck. A youthful Elon Musk promised spectators on stage during the 2019 launch of the controversial EV pickup that the angular, wedge-shaped truck will be available starting in 2021 and would cost as little as USD39,900 (about RM171k). Five years later, in 2024, the “affordable” version is still nowhere to be found, with prices starting at around $81,000.
Meanwhile the high performance Cyberbeast version has a starting price of USD99,990 (about RM429k), and that’s not the only difference. Additionally, the range promises of the Tesla Cybertruck dropped from an EPA estimate of 500 miles to a more realistic 340 miles (545 km) on the longest-range option, a huge 32% decrease from Musk’s initial projections.
Not to mention the Tesla Roadster, which was expected to go on sale four years ago but hasn’t been released yet. By the way, Tesla is still gladly collecting USD 5,000 (about RM21k) in pre-booking fees for that. To finalise your reservation, you will need to add another US$ 45,000 (about RM193k) within 10 days. Does anyone recall the purported “Full Self Driving” (FSD) function that was expected to be accessible by 2016, rather than 2021? Or was 2023 the year? There’s even a Wikipedia page dedicated to tracking Musk’s false statements about autonomous driving. Colorful stuff.
CARLIST THOUGHTS
The issue with a completely autonomous cab may not be so much technical as it is regulatory, and perhaps most significantly, cost. Even if Tesla were to sell the Cybercab for less than USD 30,000, obtaining regulatory permissions would probably be the largest obstacle to the American automaker’s goal of meeting its “by 2027” deadline. Yesterday’s We, Robot event was, honestly, just all smoke and mirrors. It was a glossy event created to generate hype, hoping to boost investments via the stock market. Tesla did not add anything to the mix that we did not already know, and for all the promises that Musk made on stage, details were not in abundance, to put things mildly.
