Elon Musk unveils Cybercab, the Tesla robotaxi with which he wants to revolutionize the sector | Technology

From crowd to crowd. Days after premiering at a political rally with Donald Trump, the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, unveiled Cybercab in style this Thursday. It’s a futuristic design electric car with two doors that open like wings, no steering wheel or pedals, a robotaxi with which Tesla wants to revolutionize autonomous driving with the help of artificial intelligence. The demonstration showed little other than that the prototypes were capable of driving unmanned in a short closed loop. It also turned out that Elon Musk taught his robots to dance or something similar.

Musk presented new models and the spectacular Robovan limousine bus. The Tesla chief assured that the company will start producing Cybercabs in 2026 – a period that requires regulatory approvals – and that they will cost less than $30,000 (about 27,500 euros at current exchange rates), although if this ultimately happens, no . If so, this wouldn’t be the first time the company has broken a promise in this regard. The robotaxi launch itself was delayed several months after he ordered changes to the prototype. Musk has already formulated his new forecast somewhat intricately: “Probably, well, I’m inclined not to be very optimistic about the timing, but in 2026. Until 2027, let’s say.”

Cybertaxi operations will cost 20 cents per mile over time. “The cost of autonomous transport will be so low that it can be considered individual shared transport,” he said. Robotaxis will use inductive chargers and will not require plugs. They will also rely solely on cameras and artificial intelligence without the need for other equipment that robotaxis use.

But there was no data on production plans, model costs, expected profitability and other details expected by investors and analysts who believe Tesla is betting on the project’s success. or even in self-driving cars. There was also no information on how fully autonomous driving would be achieved. It was more of a concept presentation.

Tesla risks recording its first-ever drop in deliveries this year as purchase incentives have failed to attract enough customers to its electric vehicle lineup. The sharp decline in prices also led to a decline in profits. The company hopes to launch a new, more affordable model next year to revive demand.

Presentation event called We, Robot We Robots was set at Warner Bros Studios in Burbank, on the outskirts of Los Angeles, California, and was staged like a film. As Musk explained, the event began with a significant delay due to a medical emergency for one of the participants. At some points, he was followed by more than three million people simultaneously on social network X.

Several of the company’s Optimus robots served as hosts or attractions. Some were mechanically dancing on the glass platform to the music, while others were in the guest area. The cameras focused again and again on someone standing at the bar, as if in the role of a waiter, but other than greetings and somewhat absurd movements, they could not be seen finishing serving any drink. This is a product Musk wants to make a billion dollars annually with, but it’s clear there’s a long way to go.

The star of the evening, in any case, was Cybercab. Musk arrived in one of them and praised the virtues of self-driving cars. “Most of the time, cars do nothing, but if they are autonomous, they can be used five times, maybe 10 times more,” he said. He compared the fact that cars have drivers to the time when elevators had elevator operators.

“The autonomous future is here. We have 50 fully autonomous vehicles here tonight. You will see Model Y and Cybercab. And all without a driver. You can get on them. They don’t have steering wheels or pedals, so I hope everything goes well,” he joked, and then assured that autonomous cars will be 10 times safer than those driven by people. Tesla has had safety issues with the self-driving features of its current models.

The entrepreneur has a vision that the self-driving car is a cross between Uber and Airbnb, where the self-driving car acts like a taxi and vehicle owners can add them to the fleet when they don’t need them. So Musk’s plan is to operate a fleet of self-driving Tesla taxis that passengers can call through an app. Self-driving car owners will also be able to make money on the app by offering their cars, with Tesla getting a cut of the revenue.

Another prototype unveiled this Thursday, the Robovan, seats 20 people and can be adapted for commercial or personal use, as a school or tour bus, or even as a utility vehicle, according to the company.