Tesla Robotaxi: Electric vehicle maker Tesla on Friday revealed its first robotaxi ‘Cybercab’. The company’s CEO Elon Musk introduced the robotaxi with AI features at the ‘We-Robot’ event held in California, USA.
This two-seater taxi has neither steering nor pedals. Consumers will be able to buy Tesla Cybercab for less than $30,000 (about Rs 25 lakh). Elon Musk hopes to start production of Cybercab before 2027.
The company introduced another autonomous vehicle ‘Robovan’ which will be capable of carrying 20 people. It will also be able to carry luggage. Musk gave an example and said that it can be used for the transportation of sports teams.
Elon Musk wants to develop a fleet of taxis
Musk plans to develop a fleet of self-driving Tesla taxis. Tesla owners will also be able to list their vehicles as part-time taxis. That is, owners can earn money through the network when they are not using their cars.
The new robotaxi model is a compact, futuristic two-seater with butterfly doors. It directly targets established autonomous taxi services like Waymo and Cruise, with Tesla hoping to make its mark in this competitive market.
Tesla’s strategy is to rely on its camera-based fully self-driving (FSD) system, which is quite different from competitors like Waymo that use lidar and radar technology. This technology is more expensive than Tesla’s technology.
