Tesla is holding a special event in California on Thursday that’s widely expected to focus on its highly anticipated robotaxi, dubbed the “Cybercab.” It announced the event, called, “We, robot,” in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday.
The future will be streamed live
10/10, 7pm PT https://t.co/YJEjZIYoTA
— Tesla (@Tesla) October 9, 2024
Many are hoping to see Tesla CEO Elon Musk take the wraps off a prototype of the long-awaited robotaxi, but recent reports have suggested that we might only get a bunch of renders.
Considering that Musk first mentioned the idea of a robotaxi around eight years ago, having only renders available on Thursday would be a disappointment.
But it wouldn’t be the first time Tesla has held a launch event for a not-actually-ready product. The first in-person event for Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot, for example, turned into something of a comedy show when the “robot” that strutted onto the stage turned out to be a performer in a lycra bodysuit. It’s worth mentioning, however, that Tesla engineers have been hard at work since on the robot.
The robotaxi event has already been delayed at least once. Musk said in April that an unveiling would take place in August, but in July we learned that it had been pushed to the fall.
Tesla already makes vehicles with autonomous driving capabilities, but a driver has to be behind the wheel. The so-called Cybercab, on the other hand, is expected to be a fully autonomous vehicle that, according to Musk’s previous comments, will do away with the steering wheel and pedals. According to Bloomberg, the vehicle will have two front seats and two doors that open upward like “butterfly wings.”
Musk has also claimed that Tesla’s robotaxi service would offer passengers “the lowest cost-per-mile of transport that they’ve ever experienced,” adding that it could even cost “less than a bus ticket, a subsidized bus ticket, or a subsidized subway ticket.”
The Tesla boss envisages owners of the robotaxi using it when they need it, but letting it trundle off to function as an autonomous taxi for paying passengers at other times.
Earlier this year, Tesla previewed the ridesharing feature for its app, which it plans to use for the robotaxi service.
Before Tesla can start using the robotaxi for paying passengers, it has to convince regulators that such a vehicle is safe for public roads, so a robotaxi service on a meaningful scale is likely to be years away.
Indeed, the road to launching large-scale robotaxi services is a long and rocky one — just ask Alphabet-owned Waymo and GM-backed Cruise.
Still, we’re keen to see what Tesla has in mind for its robotaxi, and how it plans to make an autonomous ridesharing service a reality.
Thursday’s presentation will also “show off a few other things,” according to Musk, so stand by for a few surprises.
How to watch
Tesla’s event will begin at 7 p.m. PT on Thursday, October 10. It’s taking place at Warner Bros. Discovery’s movie studio in Burbank, California.
Led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the event will be live-streamed on Tesla’s X account.