On the morning of October 11, Tesla held a "WE, ROBOT" launch event at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California.
This conference is regarded by the industry as the most important conference after the Tesla Model 3 launch conference, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that this is a day that will go down in history.
Previously, it was reported that Tesla may release a new entry-level electric car priced at $25,000, but it was not implemented.
At today's event, Tesla's driverless taxis and driverless buses were officially unveiled.
Driverless taxis are unveiled
At the beginning of the event, Musk, the "soul of Tesla", and Tesla robots in car clothes walked into the public eye. MUSK THEN ARRIVED AT THE EVENT VENUE IN A DRIVERLESS TAXI AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE THEATER MARKED "NOW PLAYING: WE ROBOT."
Screenshot of the press conference
At the press conference, Tesla CEO Elon Musk first announced that the Cybercab, a driverless taxi, will be put into production in 2026 and will cost less than $30,000.
Specifically, in terms of appearance, the Cybercab adopts a butterfly door two-door layout, and its body shape is similar to the previously launched pickup truck model CyberTruck. Inside, the Cybercab does away with the traditional steering wheel and pedals. In Tesla's concept video, passengers rely only on the in-car center screen to complete interactive commands. In "Elon · Musk's Biography" written by biographer Walter · Isaacson, Musk talked about the design concept of the Cybercab and said: "No side mirrors, no pedals, no steering wheel." ”
Screenshot of the press conference
At the press conference, Musk focused on the FSD (Full Self-Driving) technology of driverless taxis. "One robot has a million people's [driving] experience." Musk said that FSD has been continuously iterated through a lot of on-the-ground learning, and will accelerate the improvement of its various functions in the future. It expects to finally achieve fully automated FSD next year, and has selected Texas and Los Angeles areas in the United States for FSD pilots. He believes that "autonomous driving technology can reduce man-made accidents and increase road safety, ten or even twenty times safer than human driving." ”
It is worth noting that Musk's preset for the prospect of driverless taxis may affect consumption in the automotive industry to a certain extent.
"At present, there is a serious shortage of private car usage." Musk said that driverless taxis can not only reduce the cost of travel for the public, but also help people avoid paying high car maintenance fees and not worrying about parking and other problems. In other words, if the idea of a driverless taxi can be realized, people will not need to buy more private cars.
In addition to driverless taxis, Tesla has also launched a driverless bus, Robovan. This model is not only capable of carrying 20 passengers, but also has the capacity to transport goods. Musk said that driverless buses are cheaper than taking buses, and their travel costs only 10-15 cents per mile.
Source: Tesla's official website
In addition, Tesla also showcased the Optimus pedestrian robot at the press conference. "Optimus can take care of the kids, walk the dog, mow the lawn, go to the supermarket to buy groceries, and even offer drinks at parties." Musk said.
Source: Tesla's official website
Previously, some analysts reported that at the press conference, in addition to unveiling unmanned taxis, cargo vehicles and display robots, Tesla may also release a new entry-level electric vehicle priced at $25,000. But at the event, Musk did not mention any information related to it.
Net profit fell 45% in the second quarter
The reason why the "WE, ROBOT" event has attracted unprecedented attention is that Tesla, as an industry leader, has always been leading technological innovation, and autonomous driving is also regarded as one of the breakthroughs for the company to solve difficulties.
Tesla has long been regarded as a leader in the field of new energy vehicles and autonomous driving. But in the field of autonomous driving, at present, Tesla has lagged far behind its competitor - Google's Waymo at the level of government regulation and technology. In August, Waymo announced that it had made more than 100,000 paid trips per week in the United States.
At the same time, in recent years, Tesla's market share and industry position have been shaken to a certain extent as more and more new car-making forces have entered the game and traditional car companies have transformed into new energy vehicles.
Tesla's financial report shows that in the second quarter of this year, the company achieved record single-quarter revenue, a slight increase of 2% year-on-year to $25.5 billion. Among them, the revenue of energy power generation and storage business was 3.014 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 100%; service and other revenue was US$2.608 billion, an increase of 21% year-on-year; However, the revenue of its most important automobile business was 19.878 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 7%.
In addition, Tesla's GAAP net profit in the second quarter decreased by 45% year-on-year, from $2.307 billion in the same period last year to $1.478 billion, a decrease of $829 million. The company explained that the factors affecting the decline in net profit include a decrease in the average selling price of vehicles, an increase in operating expenses such as AI projects, and a decrease in vehicle deliveries.
Judging from the financial report, the decline in car sales may be the main reason for the decline in Tesla's profits.
In the second quarter, Tesla delivered 444,000 new vehicles, a decrease of 5% year-on-year, although it increased by 12.88% quarter-on-quarter. Overall, in the first half of this year, Tesla delivered 830,800 new cars, a decrease of 6.55% compared with 889,000 in the same period last year.
But for now, Tesla's performance in the Chinese market is relatively strong. In the past September, Tesla China achieved sales of more than 72,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 66% and a month-on-month increase of 14%, setting a new monthly sales record this year.