“You could fall asleep and wake up at your destination,” said Mr. Musk, Tesla’s C.E.O., but some experts are skeptical that such cars will be ferrying passengers soon.
Tesla Inc. unveiled its much-awaited robotaxi at an event in Southern California on Thursday night, showing a prototype of the Cybercab, an autonomous vehicle without steering wheels or pedals that Chief Executive Elon Musk said would cost less than $30,000.
“With autonomy, you get your life back,” Musk said. Autonomous cars will be 10 times safer than cars with human drivers, he said, and future AVs will be “comfortable little lounges.”
Musk also promised that regular Teslas such as the Model 3 and Model Y will achieve full, unsupervised autonomy and be on roads in Texas and California in 2025, and wherever permitted after that.
He went on to say that “before 2027” Tesla would be making those fully autonomous cars in high volume. Musk has previously owned up to overoptimism about autonomous vehicles, among other topics, most recently in a July call with investors after Tesla’s second-quarter earnings.
As the event at Warner Bros. studios in Burbank, Calif., got underway, Musk also unveiled a vehicle he called the Robovan, a boxy, futuristic-looking vehicle that he said will be able to carry up to 20 people or goods, and a revamped version of Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot for personal and domestic use, which he said would be a “buddy” for anyone.
“You can have your own R2-D2 or C-3PO,” Musk said. “The Optimus robots will walk among you.”
Musk kept mum about cheaper Teslas, which is sure to raise a few eyebrows among investors who expected to hear comments around a firmer timeline for the vehicles Tesla has said are in the works. He also acknowledged that full autonomy of new or existing Teslas will require regulatory approval.
“I’m glad Elon is acknowledging the long rollout process involved with autonomous driving, even if the technology is supposedly ready for widespread use,” Karl Brauer with iSeeCars said in an interview.
“But, best-case scenario, we’re still talking about an undetermined time frame for these products,” he said. “‘Before 2027’ is a long way off when your sales are plateauing and China is rushing newer, lower-cost alternatives to your current revenue stream.”
Both the Cybercab and the Robovan share some of their looks with the Cybertruck, including the appearance of a stainless steel body. Musk also said that the two-door Cybercab will have no charging plug, and would be charged via induction on charging pads.
“The future has to look like the future,” Musk said to a cheering audience at the studio, which was made into the set of a city so attendees could take test drives after Musk’s short presentation was over.
Tesla stock
slumped 6% in early premarket trade on Friday.Shares of Tesla have lost about 4% so far this week, and are down 3.9% this year, contrasting with gains of around 21% for the S&P 500 index SPX.
The “We, Robot” event was seen as a potential catalyst for Tesla’s stock, which has lagged the broader market this year, although some on Wall Street called for the possibility of a “sell the news” stock decline on Friday’s session, particularly without any news about the cheaper Teslas.
The event started nearly an hour later than the appointed 10 p.m. Eastern time. About 40 minutes after the scheduled start, Musk said on Twitter that one person in the crowd had a “medical emergency” and needed care, without elaborating further.
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