Finishing | Tu Min
出品 | CSDN（ID：CSDNnews）
Tesla's robotaxi, a driverless taxi that has been talked about for 8 years, finally made its official debut today in a global live broadcast, Tesla named it Cybercab, and Musk called today a "day that will go down in history".
However, at the new product launch event with the theme of "We, Robot", Musk was nearly an hour late, and he later explained on the X platform that they had to postpone the conference because "there was a patient in the crowd who had a medical emergency" at that time. Although there were some hiccups at the beginning, fortunately, the product made many people's eyes shine.
Tesla Robotaxi (Cybercab) is really here this time!
At the beginning of the release, Musk made a shining debut in the Cybercab driverless taxi, the key product of this conference, and fulfilled the Flag he set a few years ago and "bounced" several times.
Back in 2016, Musk claimed that all Tesla cars produced thereafter would have full self-driving capabilities through a future software update, with Tesla owners able to use them as "robo-taxis."
Later, when this vision was not fully realized, Musk began to reveal that Tesla is building a new car dedicated to self-driving, the Robotaxi (sometimes referred to as Cybercab), and promised to launch a batch of self-driving taxis sometime in 2020, bringing the number to 1 million.
However, as time went on, everyone waited and waited, but in 2022, Musk changed the mass production time to 2024.
Looking at the world, everyone has witnessed the opening of Google's Waymo self-driving taxis in Los Angeles, San Francisco and other regions in United States, and Baidu's "Apollo Go" (Apollo Go) has officially hit the road in Wuhan, and Musk's Tesla has still been slow to hear.
To this day, we can see Cybercab at last. According to Musk, Tesla has at least 20 Cybercabs and a total of 50 fully autonomous cars at the launch site, some of which are already on the road without passengers.
Compared with traditional chauffeured taxis, one of the features of Cybercab is that it replaces the "drivers" and focuses on driverless passengers. Musk said, "We will move from supervised full self-driving to unsupervised full self-driving." "This means that cars with the latest software will no longer need human interaction when necessary.
The second thing is that the interior of the Cybercab is also impressive, as it has no steering wheel, no footpegs and no mirrors on the outside.
Inside, the driverless car features a dashboard similar to the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y, with a separate screen in the middle. There are only two seats side by side. It is reported that there is a large cargo area behind it, but there is no rear window.
There's enough space to make the occupants as comfortable as possible, and Musk said, "You can fall asleep and wake up at your destination." ”
Tesla's design team apparently took inspiration from the Cybertruck, which has a similar design, especially in terms of front and rear light bars. In addition, the Cybercab is equipped with a unique pair of scissor doors with huge disc-shaped lids on the wheels.
Surprisingly, Musk said that the Cybercab does not have a traditional charging interface because it relies on inductive (i.e., wireless) charging.
Musk did not reveal any details about the Cybercab's powertrain or range during the press conference. In terms of price, though, he said the car would cost less than $30,000 (about $210,000) and was planned to start production sometime in 2026 — or, in his words, "before 2027." He added: "I'm inclined to be a little more optimistic. ”
Before that, Musk said that Tesla will launch fully self-driving vehicles without supervision in California and Texas next year, including the Model 3 and Model Y.
In Musk's vision, in the future, people could buy a Robotaxi (Cybercab) and manage them in a similar way to how Uber operates. Some netizens commented, "I bought a car, and while I was at work, let him run "Didi" to make money by himself, which is not bad."
Robovan debuts with a capacity of 20 people!
Subsequently, Musk said, "What if you need a vehicle bigger than the Model Y? Then the Robovan is the model we designed for this. ”
At first glance, it looks a bit like a subway car, and some people think it looks like a toaster on wheels:
It has glass windows on both sides of the roof, as well as sliding side doors.
The Robovan can carry up to 20 people and can also be used to transport goods.
Musk said that Robovan will be the key to solving high-density traffic. If you're going to take a sports team somewhere or want to get the cost of travel down to 5 to 10 cents per mile, this car is the car for you.
As for its range, though? How much does it cost? When will it be available? Musk did not reveal anything at this press conference. It's just that it can be used for personal or commercial purposes.
"We're going to make this, and it's going to look like that," Musk said.
Knock down the price of a humanoid robot: $2-$30,000
At the end of this press conference, who would have thought that Tesla's "Optimus" (Optimus) humanoid robot has begun to jump:
Talking about robots, Musk shared that all of the technologies Tesla has developed for cars — batteries, power electronics, advanced motors, gearboxes, software, and AI inference computers — can be applied to humanoid robots. The technology is the same, except that it is a robot with hands and legs, not a robot with wheels.
Imagine the future, Musk said that robots can do anything, it can be a teacher, help you take care of the children, walk the dog, help you buy groceries, or just chat with you, bring you drinks... At this launch, Optimus not only danced like above, but also mingled with the live audience, and some even acted as bartenders.
Musk expects that after large-scale production, the price of the Optimus robot will be about $20,000 to $30,000, or even lower. "This is my long-term prediction, and although it will take some time to achieve this goal, in the case of mass production, the robot will be very affordable," Musk said.
At last
Overall, the Robotaxi presentation was exciting for everyone in attendance, but the reality is that Tesla's desire to commercialize its Level 4 autonomous driving — the ability for vehicles to drive on their own under certain conditions without human intervention — will have to prove its safety.
At the same time, the Cybercab does not have a steering wheel and pedals and cannot comply with federal vehicle safety regulations. General Motors' Cruise had tried to mass-produce its Origin model designed specifically for robotaxis, but failed to get the necessary approvals from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and ultimately shelved the project.
Therefore, whether Tesla's Cybercab, which was unveiled today, can be realistically implemented in the future, we will verify through time.
Reference:
https://x.com/Tesla
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a62567491/tesla-robotaxi-reveal/