Tesla Robotaxi Launch: Elon Musk unveiled Tesla's long-awaited robot taxi, dubbed "Cybercab," at an event at Warner Bros. Studios near Los Angeles called "We, Robot," an apparent reference to the 2004 classic film "I, Robot. The billionaire stated that production for Cybercab will begin in 2026 and that the upcoming robot taxi will be priced at under $30,000.
This comes after Tesla fans were kept waiting after the event was delayed. As many as 3.3 million viewers joined the online livestream on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter).
"The autonomous future is here…We have 50 fully autonomous cars here tonight. You'll see model Ys and the Cybercab. All driverless." Musk was stated as saying by Reuters.
Explaining the need of Cybercab, Musk said (via The Verge), “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.”
The electric taxi shown by Musk has a capacity of only two people and has no pedals or steering, making it a fully autonomous vehicle. The design of the Robotaxi looks like something out of a science fiction novel, with the two doors opening upwards in a butterfly-like motion.
Musk noted that autonomous vehicles could be 10 to 20 times safer than human-driven vehicles, while also being significantly cheaper. He estimated that the autonomous car would cost about $0.20 per mile to operate, compared to $1 per mile for city buses.
Automation has been a key tenet of Elon Musk's reign, with the Tesla CEO consistently promising to deliver a solution to bring fully automated driverless cars to market. With Robotaxi, Tesla is looking to take that vision one step further by offering taxi service through its own ride-hailing app. Musk has been talking about the ride-hailing business since 2019, but there has been little progress so far.
Meanwhile, according to a Techcrunch report, Musk is also planning to allow Tesla users to make some extra cash by running them through the ride hailing app, with the company taking around 25-30% commission.
