After a delay of nearly two months, on October 11th, Tesla officially entered the autonomous taxi market by releasing Robotaxi - Cybercab - at Warner Bros. Discovery Studios in Los Angeles, California.
At the press conference, Tesla CEO Elon Musk rode a Cybercab through the set, with multiple Cybercabs driving on the road to simulate real road conditions. Tesla stated that a total of 20 Cybercabs will provide a test drive experience on site. It is understood that Cybercab adopts a two door design, with a central control screen installed inside the car, without a steering wheel, foot pedals, or external rearview mirrors. Meanwhile, the vehicle will adopt wireless induction charging. Musk stated that Cybercab is expected to achieve mass production in 2026-2027. In addition, Musk also announced the launch of Robovan (unmanned van), which can carry up to 20 people at a time and can also load goods.
As early as 2016, the Robotaxi project was put on Musk's agenda. In the first half of this year, Musk announced on social media that a self driving taxi would be launched on August 8th, but it was postponed due to the design team needing to redesign some components. At this year's Q2 earnings report, Musk also mentioned, "In the future, car owners can make money by putting their cars as autonomous taxis on ride hailing networks, which is more like a combination of Airbnb and Uber
In the eyes of the outside world, Tesla's decision to launch Cybercab is also based on its gradually maturing FSD (fully autonomous driving capability). Musk believes that thanks to autonomous driving technology, self driving taxis can reduce travel costs for users and also lower operating costs for operators. Robotaxis equipped with FSD are about 10 times safer than those driven by humans. At the press conference, in addition to 20 Cybercabs, a total of 30 Model Y and Robovan autonomous taxis equipped with FSD were also deployed. Musk stated that after obtaining regulatory approval in the United States for fully autonomous driving without supervision, users can experience Robotaxi on Tesla's "S3XY" model and Cyber SUV equipped with this feature.
We hope to achieve fully autonomous driving capability without supervision in Texas and California next year. Tesla will continue to follow up on regulatory developments in countries and regions outside the United States, "Musk said. It is understood that apart from the United States, Tesla is promoting FSD in multiple countries. At Tesla's Q2 earnings conference this year, Musk revealed, "We will request regulatory agencies in Europe, China, and other countries to approve Tesla's FSD (Fully Autonomous Driving Capability) supervision version, and I believe it may be approved before the end of this year
Zhang Xiang, secretary-general of the International Association of Intelligent Transport Technologies, said that Cybercab is a model launched by Tesla for the travel market. Due to factors such as fleet and operation, it may be sold to companies in the early stage rather than directly to individual consumers.
In fact, not only Tesla, but also Robotaxi, which reduces dependence on private cars and lowers travel costs, is becoming a key focus for many technology and car companies as autonomous driving technology gradually matures and smart cars are promoted and applied. Recently, it was reported that Xiaopeng Motors will vigorously expand its Robotaxi team to achieve faster development of autonomous driving technology and further market expansion. At the same time, autonomous driving companies such as Xiaoma Zhixing and Wenyuan Zhixing have already established their presence in overseas markets, and Baidu has also been rumored to be planning to launch autonomous taxi services in overseas markets. This means that as Tesla enters the market, competition in the Robotaxi industry becomes increasingly fierce, and Chinese companies exploring overseas markets will also face off against Tesla.
However, in the eyes of the outside world, although many companies are laying out their plans, how to better commercialize and land is the key to promoting the development of the Robotaxi market, and cost control ability may become Tesla's "weapon" to break through in the Robotaxi market. Musk predicts that the operating costs of Cybercab may decrease to around 20 cents per mile (approximately 0.9 yuan/kilometer) over time, and vehicle costs will be below $30000 (approximately 212000 yuan). Robovan will reduce transportation costs to 5-10 cents per mile (approximately 0.2-0.4 yuan per kilometer).