Since April, Elon MuskElon Muskboss of the electric vehicle specialist, distills tidbits about the presentation that he had announced for August 8, but which was postponed to October 10. I have ” requested what I think is a significant design change up front and the extra time allows us to reveal a few other little things », he explained in mid-July.
On September 25, he revealed the title of the event: “ We, Robot “, in reference to the science fiction work ” I, Robot » d’Isaac AsimovIsaac Asimovreleased in bookstores in 1950 and adapted for cinema in 2004. A photo accompanies this message, showing what appears to be a camera lens, mentioning the date Thursday and Los Angeles, and a comment: ” It’s going to go down in the history books ».
Speculation around the Cybercab
The rest is just rumors and speculation. Even the site of the presentation: the Warner studios in Los Angeles, which would allow demonstrations in the cardboard streets of the cinema sets. Observers saw trucks there TeslaTesla and took a photo of a vehicle wrapped in bright yellow cladding, seen as camouflage for the robotaxi.
The vehicle, which would be named Cybercab, would be – for some – inspired by the silhouette of Tesla’s Model 3 sedan, released in 2017, but, for others, of the pick-up Cybertruck deliveries of which began at the end of 2023 after several years of delays. For still others, it would be a marriage of the two. But there is still a long way to go before we can hail a Cybercab.
A long-awaited presentation
« We believe that large-scale deployment of Tesla’s robotaxi is unlikely in the coming years », Note UBS analysts. “ Elon Musk has a long history of mattermatter of exaggerating the availability of Tesla’s various products on the market – and we think the robotaxi will be no different commented Garrett Nelson of CFRA Research.
Wedbush analysts expect “ for Musk&Co to unveil +revolutionary+ autonomous technologies » Thursday, emphasizing that very few company presentations are as anticipated as this one. So much so that the very volatile Tesla stock has soared (+48.1% in six months) at the risk of collapsing in the face of probable disappointment, noted Mr. Nelson.
Competitors already in the race
However, robotaxis have already been traveling, with customers on board, several cities in the United States since 2021 thanks to Waymo from Google (Alphabet) and Cruise from the giant automobileautomobile General Motors (GM). Waymo has more than 700 robotaxis – JaguarJaguar white -, including 300 in San Francisco where they are now accessible to the general public and no longer just to testers and developers. Every week, 100,000 paid trips – up to four passengers – are made with Waymo, also present in PhoenixPhoenix (Arizona), Austin (Texas) – lands of Tesla – in Los Angeles and, soon, in Atlanta (Georgia). With cars as readily available as those from Uber and Lyft, and prices comparable, they have become part of many locals’ daily lives and a tourist attraction in their own right.
In China, robotaxis are reaching more and more cities and are deliberately much cheaper than traditional taxis.
For GM, the road is bumpier. Cruise activities were suspended in October 2023 after several vehicles were implicated in accidentsaccidents. Cruise then traveled through downtown Phoenix, San Francisco, Houston and Austin. She resumed five months later in Phoenix, with drivers on board.
Full of cameras and lidarslidars (laserslasers detection), robotaxis are sparking intense debates on the advances and risks they represent. “Autopilot”, Tesla’s driving assistance system, has also been implicated in fatal accidents.
Will Elon Musk reveal other projects?
In addition to the robotaxi, experts expect Elon Musk to make announcements concerning other projects such as the low-cost Model 2 electric car – around $25,000, expected in 2025 -, his humanoid robot Optimus – expected on the market in 2026 -, or even its Semi semi-trailer, its roadster and perhaps even a Cybervan, a version of the robotaxi for around ten people.
For Wedbush, Tesla will present “ cutting-edge technology intended to revolutionize urban transport », thanks to the artificial intelligence/fully autonomous driving (FSD) duo which represents 1,000 billion dollars of valuation alone for Tesla.
