Tesla CEO Musk unveils 'Cybercab' robotaxi as focus shifts to automation
Cybercab production to start in 2026; to be priced under $30,000
Operating cost to be 20 cents per mile over time
Musk also showcased robovan, Optimus humanoid robot
Adds Musk comments, event details and background throughout
By Abhirup Roy and Akash Sriram
Oct 10 (Reuters) -Tesla TSLA.O CEO Elon Musk showcased on Thursday a long-awaited robotaxi with two gull-wing doors and no steering wheel or pedals and surprised with robovan, betting on a shift in focus from low-priced mass-market cars to robotic vehicles.
At a glitzy unveiling, Musk reached the stage in a "Cybercab" to be produced from 2026 - eventually in high volume - and priced under $30,000. He then introduced the robovan which can carry up to 20 people though offered few further details.
But Musk, who has a record of missing projections - and himself said he tended to be optimistic with time frames - did not say how quickly Tesla could ramp up robotaxi production, clear inevitable regulatory hurdles or implement a business plan to leapfrog robotaxi rivals such as Alphabet's GOOGL.O Waymo.
Analysts and industry experts said establishing robotaxis could take years, particularly due to ensuring safety and reliability. They pointed to accidents as well as the difficulty the technology has responding to scenarios such as inclement weather, complex intersections and pedestrian behavior.
But Musk, wearing a leather-jacket and addressing crowds at the Warner Bros studio near Los Angeles, said autonomous cars could be 10 times safer than humans and drive five to 10 times longer.
"The autonomous future is here," Musk said. "With autonomy, you get your time back."
Musk had previously said he planned to operate a fleet of self-driving Tesla taxis that passengers can hail through an app. Individual Tesla owners would also be able to make money on the app by listing their vehicles as robotaxis, he had said. He made no mention of the app at Thursday's event.
The event - titled "We, Robot" in an apparent nod to the "I, Robot" science-fiction short stories by American writer Isaac Asimov - echoed Musk's comment that Tesla "should be thought of as an AI robotics company" rather than an automaker.
It started after a delay of nearly an hour which Musk attributed to a medical emergency involving an attendee. The presentation, months in the making, lasted for less than half an hour and was watched by about four million people on Musk's X social media platform alone.
"I'm a shareholder and pretty disappointed. I think the market wanted more definitive time lines," said equity trader Dennis Dick at Triple D Trading. "I don't think he said much about anything."
Running the Cybercab will cost 20 cents a mile over time and charging will be inductive, requiring no plugs, Musk said. Operating the robovans will be even cheaper - at 5 cents a mile.
The vehicles will rely on artificial intelligence and cameras rather than hardware common among robotaxi rivals, he said, such as lidar - an approach experts have flagged as challenging both from a technical and regulatory stand point.
Beyond vehicles, Musk touted "a lot of progress" made with its humanoid robot "Optimus" that could eventually be priced at $20,000 to $30,000 and which can perform many daily tasks.
TOUGH TO CRACK
Musk said in 2019 he was "very confident" Tesla would have operational robotaxis by 2020. This year, he diverted focus to the Cybercab and scrapped plans to build a smaller, cheaper car widely seen as essential to countering slowing EV demand.
Tesla is at risk of posting its first-ever decline in deliveries this year as buying incentives have failed to attract enough customers to its aging EV lineup, showed Reuters calculations based on third-quarter earnings. Price cuts meant to offset high interest rates have also squeezed profit margins.
Several companies attempting to crack the robotaxi market have suffered billion of dollars in loss, forcing some to shut shop.
Alphabet's GOOGL.O Waymo, with about 700 Jaguar Land Rover cars in its fleet, is the only U.S. firm operating uncrewed robotaxis that collect fares.
Amazon's AMZN.O Zoox is testing purpose-built vehicles that resemble toaster ovens on wheels and lack manual controls. General Motors' GM.N Cruise, which uses the Chevrolet Bolt EV, this year indefinitely suspended plans to develop its self-driving "Origin" without controls.
Tesla's approach to full self-driving technology, in its current iteration, requires constant driver attention but keep costs down. It has, however, faced legal scrutiny with at least two fatal accidents involving the technology.
"We do expect to start fully autonomous unsupervised FSD in Texas and California next year." Musk said. "That's with the Model 3 and Model Y."
He did not say whether the Cybercab uses FSD or new technology.
"Musk did a fantastic job of painting an ideal future for transportation that promises to both free up our time and increase safety," said Jessica Caldwell, head of at car research and buying website Edmunds. "But many questions remain about how this will be achieved from a practical standpoint."
Reporting by Abhirup Roy in San Francisco and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Aditya Soni, Brian Thevenot and Chris Kirkham; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh and Chris Cushing
免责声明: XM Group仅提供在线交易平台的执行服务和访问权限，并允许个人查看和/或使用网站或网站所提供的内容，但无意进行任何更改或扩展，也不会更改或扩展其服务和访问权限。所有访问和使用权限，将受下列条款与条例约束：(i) 条款与条例；(ii) 风险提示；以及(iii) 完整免责声明。请注意，网站所提供的所有讯息，仅限一般资讯用途。此外，XM所有在线交易平台的内容并不构成，也不能被用于任何未经授权的金融市场交易邀约和/或邀请。金融市场交易对于您的投资资本含有重大风险。
所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。
本网站上由XM和第三方供应商所提供的所有内容，包括意见、新闻、研究、分析、价格、其他资讯和第三方网站链接，皆保持不变，并作为一般市场评论所提供，而非投资性建议。所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为适用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。请确保您已阅读并完全理解，XM非独立投资研究提示和风险提示相关资讯，更多详情请点击 这里。
