Elon Musk unveiled Tesla’s Cybercab and Robovan at an invitation-only “We, Robot” event on Thursday, October 10, following a decade of unfulfilled promises regarding driverless vehicles.
Since revealing the Cybertruck’s design in 2019, the event marked Tesla’s first product unveiling.
Musk arrived at the stage nearly an hour late in what he described as a “fully autonomous” vehicle devoid of pedals or steering wheels.
Musk stated that Tesla had a total of 50 “autonomous” cars and 21 of these vehicles at the Warner Bros. studio in Burbank, California, where the invitation-only event was held.
He went on to say that a Tesla Cybercab would be available for purchase for less than $30,000 due to the company’s goal of producing them before 2027.
Additionally, he stated that he anticipates Tesla’s “unsupervised Full Self-Driving (FSD)” electric vehicles operating in Texas and California next year.
The premium driver assistance system from Tesla, FSD, is available in a “supervised” version for electric Tesla vehicles. It currently requires a human driver to be at the wheel at all times and ready to steer or brake.
In the future, Tesla will produce an electric, autonomous Robovan that can transport up to 20 people or goods.
Inductive charging would also be used in the Cybercab and Robovan, allowing these autonomous vehicles to recharge without needing to be plugged in.
Musk has spent a lot of time praising Tesla’s work on autonomous vehicles and promising that they would be available for purchase. He has repeatedly woven a vision for shareholders and set and missed his own deadlines along the way.
Musk promised Tesla shareholders in 2015 that the company’s vehicles would attain “full autonomy” within three years. However, it was not realized.
Musk stated in 2016 that a Tesla car would be able to drive across the country without the need for human intervention by the end of 2017. Also, that never took place.
In addition, Musk stated in 2019 that Tesla would have 1 million robotaxi-ready vehicles on the road in 2020, able to complete 100 hours of driving work per week and make money for their owners, during a call with institutional investors that would assist him in raising more than $2 billion.
At the event on Thursday night, Musk said that attendees would be invited to a “party” and that they would be able to test drive autonomous vehicles on location, in the private lot of movie studios.
The CEO stated toward the end of his approximately 23 minutes on stage that Tesla wanted to demonstrate that its humanoid robot dubbed Optimus, which is currently in development, was not just for “a canned video.”
Since the Cybertruck design was shown off in 2019, the event marked Tesla’s first product launch. The angular steel pickup began shipping to customers toward the end of 2023 and has been the subject of five voluntary recalls in the United States since then.
At the same time, Tesla shares fell 6% in premarket trading after the Cybercab robotaxi reveal failed to impress.
After the long-awaited robotaxi event by the electric vehicle manufacturer failed to impress investors, the shares fell in premarket trading on Friday October 11.
Analysts at Barclays said that the revelations had focused too much on Musk’s vision for a future with fully autonomous vehicles rather than any immediate opportunities for Tesla.
In premarket trading on Friday, Tesla stock was down 5.8% as of 6:33 a.m. Eastern Time.
When the car launches, the plan is for it to be able to drive on its own.
The Tesla CEO stated that production of the Cybercab is anticipated prior to 2027.
Analysts at Piper Sandler stated:
“We wouldn’t be surprised if the stock sells off in the coming weeks, as pre-event momentum fizzles,” the investment bank’s analysts said in the note.
Morgan Stanley, on the other hand, suggested that Musk failed to demonstrate at the event that Tesla is an AI company.
Regulators are concerned about the safety features embedded in self-driving vehicles, so it is anticipated that it will take some time before they become a common sight on public roads.
Google’s Waymo is one of the few businesses to successfully introduce self-driving cars to public roads. Since June, Waymo has provided its robotaxi service to the general public.
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