SAN FRANCISCO: Elon Musk-run Tesla on Friday unveiled its first Cybercab that will cost less than $30, 000 and the average operating cost will be nearly $0.20 per mile, much less than a traditional city taxi.
The tech billionaire revealed a prototype of the EV company’s first fully driverless vehicle during the robotaxi event dubbed as ‘We, Robot’ in the US, along with showcasing a line-up of futuristic vehicles that includes an electric van.
The Cybercab is a purpose-built autonomous vehicle, lacking a steering wheel or pedals. The doors open upward like butterfly wings and a small cabin with only enough space for two passengers.
Looking similar to Cybertruck, it does not have a plug-in charger and instead has “inductive charging, ” which is like wireless charging, according to the Tesla owner.
The tech billionaire said that his autonomous cars are likely to be 10-20 times safer than traditional cars.
The company also showcased a new “Robovan” transport vehicle that can be configured as “mass transit” or a cargo carrier, saying that “the future is autonomous”.
The EV company aims to launch fully autonomous driving in Texas and California next year, with the Cybercab production by 2026.
Tesla is also developing the Optimus robot, which could be available for $20, 000-$30, 000, and is capable of performing various tasks. “This is a very big deal. It’ll save lives, a lot of lives, and prevent injuries, ” said Musk.
“Think about the cumulative time that people spend in a car and the time they will get back that they can now spend on their books or watching a movie or doing work or whatever, ” Musk told the gathering at the event at Warner Bros studio.
Musk informed that Tesla will start performing “unsupervised FSD in Texas and California next year” with Model 3 and Model Y.