EV giant Tesla Inc. TSLA unveiled its dedicated two-seater robotaxi product on Thursday, nicknamed the Cybercab, complete with butterfly wings that open upwards.
The Cybercab: Company CEO Elon Musk said at an ongoing event in Los Angeles that Tesla made 20 units of the vehicle which drove itself into the event stage with the billionaire within. At first glance, the exterior design of the Cybercab resembles the Cybertruck’s angular and steel body.
The design also bears huge resemblances to the design shared by Musk’s biographer Walter Isaacson in his book published last year. The vehicle, Musk said, is expected to be priced under $30,000.
Musk also revealed that the Cybercab will not include a charging plug – it will instead use inductive charging.
The Robovan: Tesla also unveiled the robovan which can accommodate up to 20 people.
The robovan bears an angular structure and has no pedals or steering wheels but resembles a wagon on the outside.
It could rival Uber Technologies Inc.’s UBER newly-announced shuttle service, but details about the robovan’s launch remain unknown yet.
Vision For Autonomous Driving: The company will start autonomous driving with its Model 3 and Model Y in Texas and California next year and the Cybercab will join the autonomous fleet in 2026 or before 2027, Musk said, while adding that he tends to be overly optimistic with timelines.
The product was unveiled at the event called “We, Robot” held by Tesla at Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.'s movie studio near Los Angeles. Though the event was supposed to start at 10 p.m. CT, there was a significant delay of over 50 minutes.
Musk said that the event was delayed because one of the guests had a medical emergency.
Update On Optimus: Optimus, Musk reiterated, will be available at a $20,000- $30,000 price point once production ramps up.
Musk previously said that the EV company would have "genuinely useful" humanoid robots in low production for use within its factories next year. The company will "hopefully" increase production for other customers in 2026, he said in July.
Price Action: Tesla stock rose 0.4% after hours after closing down nearly 1% on Thursday at $238.77, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
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Photo courtesy: Tesla
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