Tesla Key Exec Says 'We, Robot' Event Had 1,300 'Perfectly Safe' Autonomous Trips Driving Over 2,000 Guests: 'Really Amazing To See Users Take The Robotaxis For Granted'

Tesla Inc. TSLA had 19 Cybercabs and 29 Model Ys driving autonomously at the ‘We, Robot’ event held by the company earlier this month and no safety-related events occurred, company executive Ashok Elluswamy said on Tuesday.

What Happened: The ‘We, Robot’ event was held by Tesla on Oct. 10 at Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.’s movie studio near Los Angeles. The company unveiled its dedicated two-seater robotaxi product, nicknamed the Cybercab, complete with butterfly wings that open upwards in addition to a Robovan that can accommodate up to 20 people.

Both vehicles are designed for autonomous driving, so they don’t have pedals or steering wheels.

At the end of the official announcements by CEO Elon Musk, the company opened the chance to the guests assembled to experience autonomous driving around the studio in a fleet of 19 Cybercabs and 29 autonomously operating Model Ys.

“…every trip was perfectly safe,” Elluswamy said on Tuesday. The fleet also operated continuously for over 3.5 hours, offering 1,300 trips for over 2000 guests, he added.

“It was really amazing to see users take the robotaxis for granted. They didn’t seem to think twice before crossing in front of it, walking alongside it, robotaxis interacting with one another etc. They behaved just the same way they would around human-driven vehicles.”

It was really amazing to see users take the robotaxis for granted. They didn't seem to think twice before crossing in front of it, walking alongside it, robotaxis interacting with one another etc. They behaved just the same way they would around human-driven vehicles.

— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) October 16, 2024

Elluswamy also added that all of the autonomy demonstrated at the event was using “close to the production AI software or will ship soon in v13.”

Finally, it took an immense amount of effort from a very talented team to pull this off. The event was super motivating for the team and we are looking forward to bringing this to the real world as soon as possible.

— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) October 16, 2024

Why It Matters: The event held on Oct. 10 was dedicated to showcasing Tesla’s efforts in the field of autonomous driving and robotics.

Musk then said that the Cybercab would be priced under $30,000 and use inductive charging instead of a charging plug.

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 CEO, however, provided no production timeline for the Robovan.

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Photo courtesy: Tesla