no steering wheel or pedals, but many (too many) unanswered questions

A few days after the presentation of the Tesla Cybercab, most observers agree that the company did not live up to expectations. Elon Musk never stops promising a revolutionary future for Tesla. If the concept presented on Thursday October 10 is rather attractive, (too) many questions still remain unanswered.

The Tesla Cybercab is here, but we don’t know anything about it

Waited for almost 10 years, the Cybercab is finally here! Elon Musk has unveiled a prototype of an autonomous taxi without a steering wheel and pedals. A compact vehicle, with a bold design, equipped with gullwing doors, fully electric and autonomous. A price announced around $30,000. A few pre-made sentences about safety, comfort and a so-called “ revolution » transport. But that’s all.

With its event “ We, Robot “, Musk had one goal: to sell dreams. In this aspect, we can consider that the mission is accomplished. But the industry expects more. Is Tesla really preparing the future of mobility? After the soporific presentation of October 10, we can seriously ask ourselves the question. People no longer want false promises. They want something concrete.

Unfortunately, the Cybercab seems, like many other projects related to autonomous driving at Tesla, to be part of a long series of promises without clearly defined deadlines. Elon Musk talks about “ driverless cars » since 2016. He has constantly repeated that complete autonomy is “not only two years away from a tangible achievement “. But the brand can’t do it.

No information on software

Even today, the manufacturer promises that the Cybercab will be ready in 2 years, “ by 2026 “. But by announcing such a deadline, Musk has not convinced anyone. The billionaire could have used this event to allay the Tesla community’s concerns regarding autonomous driving technologies. He could have revealed precise data on the Cybercab’s capabilities.

It could even have surprised the industry by indicating the integration of LiDAR sensors. A technology used by most other manufacturers, but which Tesla continues to reject in favor of its camera-based vision system. But none of this was done. Instead, the boss of the American brand opted for a big show with dancing robots to entertain the guests.

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To put it bluntly, the lack of concrete details on how the Cybercab will work fuels doubts about the possible marketing of an autonomous vehicle at Tesla. Software is the key to autonomous driving. However, the Austin firm dared to organize an event on autonomous driving technologies without even once addressing the question of software.

And the regulations?

And that’s not all. Here are at least five other topics that should have been covered at the October 10 event: regulations, liability, remote assistance, fleet maintenance, emergency detection. Some will say that it was only a first presentation. But these subjects are essential to putting vehicles equipped with autonomous driving technologies on the roads.

To get its Cybercab on public roads, Tesla will have to face numerous regulatory obstacles. In the United States, a few companies have already obtained approval to deploy driverless fleets. To do this, you must be able to demonstrate that the vehicles in question are “ safer than those driven by humans “. In 2024, Tesla’s technologies are not ready.

No steering wheel or pedals. Why not, but that could be a problem. Level 4 autonomous vehicles, like those from Waymo, have manual overrides in the event of a system failure. The Cybercab would be completely devoid of it. To be authorized to circulate, Tesla will therefore have to obtain specific exemptions from the federal government, a process which promises to be long and complex.

Who is responsible in the event of an accident?

Accidents involving autonomous vehicles are generally very complex. Several reasons can cause a failure. Vision systems may be affected by adverse weather conditions, including snow and fog. Self-driving car software can also be hacked. You must be able to determine the liability of the operator.

If a driverless Cybercab causes an accident, who will be held responsible? Until now, Tesla has done everything to avoid taking legal responsibility for incidents involving its driver assistance systems. If the company persists on this path with Cybercab, legal uncertainty could become a major obstacle to its adoption, both for regulators and users.

Tesla is late to the self-driving car market

While the American manufacturer puts on a show with its Cybercab, other players are moving forward. And they are moving fast! In China, Baidu has already launched its own robotaxi, the Yichi 06. It has already traveled 32 million km in fully autonomous mode. Equipped with 5 LiDAR sensors and 40 conventional sensors, the Yichi 06 proves that Tesla is already one step behind in the autonomous driving sector.

The Yichi 06 is an electric minivan created jointly by JMC and Apollo. It has minimalist styling, sliding rear doors, a single taillight and 4 seats inside. Its dimensions are as follows: 4765 mm in length, 1885 mm in width and 1715 mm in height. It is equipped with a single 147 hp electric motor on the front axle and powered by an interchangeable LFP battery.

This can be replaced in just three minutes. As with the Cybercab, there is no steering wheel in the Yichi 06. However, unlike the Tesla prototype, the Chinese model is equipped with an extremely sophisticated autonomous driving system. Like Baidu, many companies are also specialized in this market. Examples include WeRide, Momenta, Xpeng, Waymo and Cruise.

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The idea is not to say that Tesla will not succeed. But rather, it is time to wake up and provide concrete elements. The Austin firm has already proven that it is capable of revolutionizing the automobile industry and disrupting players that have been established for decades. But this time, Tesla is in the position of outsider. We can therefore wonder if the brand will have the capacity to come back.