Tesla Master Plan: Part Deux

[ProjectWHaT]

Tesla unveils Cybercab: a $30,000 electric robotaxi coming in the next 2 years

Tesla has unveiled a new vehicle called Cybercab; a $30,000 electric robotaxi coming in the next 2 years. At an...

electrek.co

Tesla has unveiled a new vehicle called Cybercab; a $30,000 electric robotaxi coming in the next 2 years.

Its name is still not clear. Prior to the event, Musk referred to it as both ‘Cybercab’ and ‘Robotaxi’.

Both terms were also used during the event.

Tesla only has a very short web page about the new vehicle (and Robovan) on its website and it refers to it as ‘Robotaxi’.

Despite having an actual launch event for the vehicle, the details are very limited. There are basically none on the previously mentioned webpage, so we have to go only for what was said and seen at the event.

As expected, the vehicle is a 2-seater with butterfly wing doors and no steering wheel or pedals.

Most, if not all prototypes shown appeared to have a gold finish. It doesn’t have a rear window.

The Cybercab will be the first Tesla vehicle to feature wireless induction charging as standard. As we previously reported, the Cybertruck appears ready to receive a wireless charger, but it will likely be a retrofittable option in the future.

Tesla didn’t release much in terms of specs for the new vehicle. There was no word on the electric vehicle’s range.

Musk mentioned an estimated cost of operation of $0.20 a mile, which appears ambitious.

He also mentioned that consumers will be able to buy it. It won’t be only for an autonomous ridesharing fleet, Tesla Network, which Musk has been hyping for years.

The CEO said that Tesla is aiming to sell the Robotaxi for less than $30,000. As for when it will enter production, Musk said it will come in 2026, but he did acknowledge that he is often wrong with his timelines, and it could come in 2027 instead.

Tesla unveils Robovan, a 20-seat autonomous passenger/cargo van

Tesla held its Robotaxi event tonight to introduce a whole new vehicle that will function exclusively as a driverless vehicle....

electrek.co

But in addition to the Robotaxi, it also unveiled another robo-vehicle – an autonomous van that can be used for either 20-person mass transit or for cargo hauling tasks.

We didn’t get much information about the van, except that it will be capable of carrying 20 people, or also be capable of carrying cargo. The configuration we saw was the people-carrying version, and Tesla has put up several photos on its website to see what the interior of the van might look like.

https://www.tesla.com/we-robot

 

[McLaren]

Musk said it will come in 2026, but he did acknowledge that he is often wrong with his timelines, and it could come in 2027 instead.

 

[ProjectWHaT]

Here's the massive disclaimer they showed at the start of the stream

 

[Omnis]

“The future should look like the future”

… too bad it looks like an abominable first gen 90s GM minivan.

 

[Tornado]

A two seat coupe with an aggressively sloping roofline and butterfly doors as a taxi somehow manages to screw up the basic design brief even more than the Cybertruck did.

 

[EngieDiesel]

View attachment 1396178

“The future should look like the future”

… too bad it looks like an abominable first gen 90s GM minivan.

View attachment 1396180

And yet that minivan is likely much more comfortable and far safer than the overgrown art-deco breadbox.

Not that it matters, because these robotaxis have been only two years away for about 10 years now, or whenever they want clueless investors to hold their wallets open again.

Also I'm pretty sure the 2016 Ford Transit I used to drive as a hotel shuttle van had more luggage space then that thing even with three rows of seats, but a giant Tesla vehicle having subpar cargo capacity is hardly anything new.

 

[Meythia]

A two seat

No matter whether renewable energy BEV or not, shouldnt the aim be having less cars on the roads?
The more likely car is also the less reasonable one in this regards, because the

art-deco breadbox

will never be made anyway.

 

[ProjectWHaT]

Some interesting discussion with the chief designer at Tesla. He did not like people comparing the taxi with the VW XL1 or the Cybertruck. He claims it's its own unique design lol

 

[Joey D]

I kind of get it. There's only so much aerodynamic shape you can create with given materials, but this is really close to the XL1. If you put a set of skirts on it, you'd have a hard time telling them apart.

Also, what in the world is with those rubberband tires? Taxis need to be durable, hit curbs, and drive through pot hole ridden streets. Those tires wouldn't last a day.

 

[JC_Dude]

Also, what in the world is with those rubberband tires? Taxis need to be durable, hit curbs, and drive through pot hole ridden streets. Those tires wouldn't last a day.

I may be wrong, but it looks like the tyres have a painted gold strip, so the sidewall should be bigger than it appears.

 

[ZGBox]

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If I had a penny every time some bigshot billionaire proposes a darn pod as a futuristic alternative to a problem that it has been already solved, I would be filthy rich.

 

[EngieDiesel]

If I had a penny every time some bigshot billionaire proposes a darn pod as a futuristic alternative to a problem that it has been already solved, I would be filthy rich.

And then you could ride around everywhere in your private pod vehicle and never have to look at those stinky poor people ever again, which is the exact reason why they keep proposing them in the first place.

 

[ZEE]

Some interesting discussion with the chief designer at Tesla. He did not like people comparing the taxi with the VW XL1 or the Cybertruck. He claims it's its own unique design lol

"....And the customer asked the waiter, So what is the blandest thing on the menu and he gave this."

It truly looks horrid, I need cars with rims even if they only have smaller spokes, not kitchen dish plates with tacky gold paint for a design. The Tesla designer is a child at his creations and he even shrugs it off when the TG presenter scoffs at him with the VW XL1 remark.

 

[JC_Dude]

Also, what in the world is with those rubberband tires? Taxis need to be durable, hit curbs, and drive through pot hole ridden streets. Those tires wouldn't last a day.

I just had another look at those pictures and you can actually make out the tyre dimensions in them. The front tyres are 215/60R18, so a decent amount of sidewall. In addition to the gold paint making the sidewall appear smaller, I'm guessing the aero covers are bigger than the rims, like in the Cybertruck, which further makes it look like the wheels are massive.

 

[05XR8]

Missed opportunity if you ask me.

 

[EngieDiesel]

I just had another look at those pictures and you can actually make out the tyre dimensions in them. The front tyres are 215/60R18, so a decent amount of sidewall. In addition to the gold paint making the sidewall appear smaller, I'm guessing the aero covers are bigger than the rims, like in the Cybertruck, which further makes it look like the wheels are massive.

View attachment 1396938

So I was looking at Continental's website to see what tires those are, since i was suspecting they're just cheap all-season tires that they prettied up, but I can't find any with a tread pattern like you see on the sides. And looking at that picture closer, the tread marks look very uneven and misaligned in places.

Did they actually go through the trouble of carving fake tread into the sidewalls to try and make them look like sports tires?

 

[TheCracker]

Did they actually go through the trouble of carving fake tread into the sidewalls to try and make them look like sports tires?

Looks that way. The spaces between the cuts appear to be unevenly spaced from that closeup.

In the studio shots the wheels/tyres appear to be much narrower than 215/18 would suggest. They look more like the 155 or 175/19s that the original BMW i3 came with.

Wheel discs like these that cover the wheel rim are actually a pretty good idea on a car that will no doubt spend a lot of time pulling up at the curbside to pick up and drop people off.