Elon Musk unveils Tesla Cybercab self-driving robotaxi
Billionaire says autonomous car expected ‘before 2027’ will have a pricetag of less than US$30,000, with a ‘Robovan’ that can carry 20 people to follow
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has unveiled the company’s robotaxi, Cybercab, promising it will cost less than US$30,000, and announced plans to bring autonomous driving to its Model 3 and Model Y cars in California and Texas by next year.
At the much-anticipated We, Robot event hosted at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California, the billionaire arrived in the Cybercab in his trademark black leather jacket, accompanied by a man dressed in a space suit. Human-like robots mingled in the crowd, danced and served drinks to those gathered for the party.
In the lead-up to the announcement, analysts were sceptical that Tesla would deliver on its promise, as fully self-driving vehicles had been flagged for nine years and robotaxis for five years.
Musk said there were 20 more Cybercabs at the event, in addition to the one he had arrived in, and 50 fully autonomous vehicles for attenders to try out across the 20 acres of space that Tesla had secured for the event.
