Tesla (TSLA) and its CEO Elon Musk finally revealed the electric vehicle maker’s long-awaited driverless robotaxi on Thursday night, alongside a surprise — a larger autonomous Robovan designed to transport a lot more people.
After a nearly one-hour delay, attendees at the “We, Robot” event in Los Angeles were given an up-close introduction to two of Tesla’s latest creations, a key strategic focus for the EV pioneer.
Musk arrived via the robotaxi — dubbed “Cybercab” — which featured a Cybertruck-like light bar in the front, a small angular profile, scissor-like doors, and a minimalist interior. The Cybercab appeared to navigate the Warner Bros. Studios closed-course lot on the way to the event stage.
The initial response on Friday morning showed investors wanting more, with the stock down over 8% in early trade.
As expected, the Cybercab features no steering wheels or pedals, so is designed to be fully autonomous.
“We’ll move from supervised full self-driving, to unsupervised full self-driving,” Musk said, meaning the cars using this latest software will no longer need humans to interact if need be.
Musk said he expects the small EV to cost less than $30,000 when it arrives sometime before 2027. The Cybercab will charge via wireless induction technology, possibly using mats or tracks on roads.
Tesla will start unsupervised full self-driving (FSD) trials in Texas and California next year, with Model 3 and Model Y test vehicles. Musk said further unsupervised FSD trials will take place wherever regulators allow them.
Wall Street analysts envision owners of the existing fleet of Teslas on the road will be able to put those models on the company’s rideshare service once the EVs are combined with FSD and Tesla’s upcoming rideshare mobility app. That would unlock a tremendous amount of value and would be a true game changer, the analysts believe.
Tesla did not reveal its upcoming lower-cost “next-gen” model, which many analysts had expected. However, it is possible the Cybercab is essentially sharing the same chassis as the new passenger vehicle, as the carmaker has suggested in the past. Tesla has previously confirmed that the sub-$30K next-gen EV will arrive later this year.
Surprise reveal
In an unexpected move, Tesla debuted the Robovan — a much larger EV with hidden wheels and no real windshield. The Robovan’s design had echoes of the science-fiction movie “Blade Runner,” with wide light bars across the front facade and monolithic design. Musk said the Robovan is designed to transport up to 20 people or a large amount of cargo and can be adapted for commercial or personal use.
No date of service or pricing was given for the Robovan.
Finally, Musk brought out a group of Optimus humanoid robots, walking on their own into the event space. Musk said the robots would likely cost between $20,000 and $30,000 when they eventually go on sale years from now — a claim he has made in the past.
Musk said the robots would mingle with attendees at the event and even serve drinks at the bar.
In addition to interacting with the robots, attendees were offered rides in the Cybercabs and Model 3 and Model Y EVs operating autonomously.
Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.
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