Tesla's new Cybercab and futuristic 20-seat Robovan show it's lost its grip on reality

Details remain scarce, but at least the event actually happened

News By Leon Poultney published 11 October 2024

Dancing humanoid robots, a Hollywood movie set and plenty of impromptu whooping – it could only mean one thing: Elon Musk finally held the robotaxi reveal he has been promising for years.

Staged in a sprawling "20-30 acre" Warner Brothers facility in California, the unveiling saw Musk arrive in what he predominantly referred to as 'Cybercab', although he did have a tendency to muddle that up with robotaxi on several occasions.

Sporting a demure gold paint job, the scissor-door saloon looked like the Cybertruck and Model S had spawned freakishly futuristic offspring, with LED headlights, laser projections on the road ahead and a distinct lack of steering wheel or pedals setting it apart from the rest of the Tesla range.

Musk demonstrated its abilities as he hopped inside one of his Cybercabs and took an awkward, trundling meander around the movie set to bursts of applause from his adoring fans. Occasionally it would stop for staged cyclists to pass, other times it would hesitate at junctions.

Once up on stage, Musk was characteristically light on details, stating that he had "50 autonomous cars" roving around the Warner Bros. lot, including Model Y vehicles set to an unsupervised autonomous driving mode.

After stating that traffic today “sucked” and that autonomous vehicles could be anywhere between 10-20 safer than humans, Musk again reiterated his vision of "personalised mass transport", which he suggested would be cheaper, safer and more convenient for everyone.

More importantly, it would give humanity back the time 'wasted' driving. Although Musk then joked that humanity would spend that time on their smartphones.

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