LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, although fans of the electric vehicle maker will have to wait at least until 2026 before it becomes available.
CEO Elon Musk pulled up to a stage on the Warner Bros. studio lot in one of the company’s “cybercabs” and told the crowd that the sleek, AI-powered vehicles had no steering wheels or pedals. He also expressed confidence in advances the company has made in autonomous driving technology, which allows vehicles to drive without human intervention.
Tesla began selling the software called “Full Self-Driving” nine years ago. However, there are doubts about its reliability.
“We will move from supervised, fully autonomous driving to unsupervised, fully autonomous driving. where you can fall asleep and wake up at your destination,” he said. “It will be a glorious future.”
Tesla expects the cybercabs to cost less than $30,000, Musk said. He estimated the vehicles would be available in 2026, then added “before 2027.”
The company also expects Full Self-Driving technology to be available in its popular Model 3 and Model Y in Texas and California next year.
“If they want to eventually get to robotaxis, they will first have to succeed with the unattended FSD in the current lineup,” said Seth Goldstein, equity strategist at Morningstar Research. “Today’s event showed that they are ready to take this step forward.”
However, when Tesla will actually take this step has caused more than a little fear among investors who see other automakers currently using similar technologies. Shares of Tesla Inc. fell 9% at the opening bell on Friday.
Waymo, Alphabet Inc.’s autonomous vehicle unit, carries passengers in vehicles without human safety drivers in Phoenix and other areas. General Motors’ Cruise self-driving unit operated robotaxis in San Francisco until an accident involving one of its vehicles occurred last year.
Additionally, Aurora Innovation announced that the company will begin hauling freight in fully autonomous semi-trucks on Texas highways by the end of the year. Another autonomous semi-company, Gatik, plans to carry cargo autonomously by the end of 2025.
“Tesla claimed again that actual automated driving is still a year or two away – just as the company has been claiming for a decade. “In fact, Tesla’s entire event was reminiscent of 2014, except there were actually no automated vehicles on public roads in 2014,” said Bryant Walker Smith, a law professor at the University of South Carolina who studies automated vehicles, in an e- Email to The Associated Press. “There are now real AVs carrying real people on real roads, but none of these vehicles are Teslas. Tonight hasn’t changed that reality; it just made the irony more glaring.”
Tesla had around 20 cybercabs on site and offered event participants the opportunity to take rides on the film studio lot – not on the streets of Los Angeles.
At the presentation, titled “We, Robot,” and live on Tesla’s website and
The company also introduced several of its black-and-white Optimus humanoid robots, which walked a few feet away from attendees before performing dance moves in a futuristic-looking pavilion.
Musk estimated the robots would cost between $28,000 and $30,000 and would be able to babysit, mow lawns, fetch groceries, among other tasks.
“Whatever you can think of will work,” he said.
The Cybercab’s unveiling comes as Musk tries to convince investors that his company is betting more on artificial intelligence and robotics as it works to sell its core products, an aging lineup of electric vehicles.
Tesla’s model lineup is struggling and isn’t expected to be updated until behind schedule next year at the earliest, TD Cowen analyst Jeff Osborne wrote in a research note last week.
Osborne also noted that, in TD Cowen’s opinion, the “politicization of Elon” is damaging the Tesla brand among Democratic buyers in the US
Musk has supported Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and promoted many conservative causes. Last weekend he accompanied Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Musk has said for more than five years that a fleet of robot taxis is on the horizon that would allow Tesla owners to make money by letting their cars transport passengers while they are not being used by the owners. Musk said Tesla owners will be able to operate their cars through a company-owned robotaxi network.
However, he admitted that previous forecasts for the apply of autonomous driving had proven to be too positive. In 2019, he promised the fleet of autonomous vehicles by the end of 2020.
The announcement comes as U.S. safety regulators are conducting investigations into “Full Self Driving” and “Autopilot,” based on evidence that the system has a delicate system for ensuring the attention of human drivers.
Additionally, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration forced Tesla to recall Full Self-Driving in February because it allowed speeding and violated other traffic rules, particularly near intersections. Tesla should fix the problems with an online software update.
Authorities say a fully automated Tesla struck and killed a motorcyclist last April in Snohomish County, Washington, near Seattle. The Tesla driver told authorities he was using the system while looking at his phone when the car struck the motorcyclist. The motorcyclist was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.
NHTSA says it is evaluating information about the fatal crash involving Tesla and law enforcement.
The Justice Department has also asked Tesla for information on fully autonomous driving and Autopilot, as well as other topics.
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Krisher reported from Detroit.
