LOS ANGELES: Tesla CEO Elon Musk showcased on Thursday a long-awaited robotaxi with two gull-wing doors and no steering wheel or pedals and surprised with robovan, betting on a shift in focus from low-priced mass-market cars to robotic vehicles.

At a glitzy unveiling, Musk reached the stage in a “Cybercab” to be produced from 2026 — eventually in high volume — and priced under $30,000. He then introduced the robovan which can carry up to 20 people though offered few further details.

But Musk, who has a record of missing projections — and himself said he tended to be optimistic with time frames — did not say how quickly Tesla could ramp up robotaxi production, clear inevitable regulatory hurdles or implement a business plan to leapfrog robotaxi rivals such as Alphabet’s Waymo.

Analysts and industry experts said establishing robotaxis could take years, particularly due to ensuring safety and reliability. They pointed to accidents as well as the difficulty the technology has responding to scenarios such as inclement weather, complex intersections and pedestrian behavior.

But Musk, wearing a leather-jacket and addressing crowds at the Warner Bros studio near Los Angeles, said autonomous cars could be 10 times safer than humans and drive five to 10 times longer.

“The autonomous future is here,” Musk said. “With autonomy, you get your time back.” Musk had previously said he planned to operate a fleet of self-driving Tesla taxis that passengers can hail through an app. Individual Tesla owners would also be able to make money on the app by listing their vehicles as robotaxis, he had said.

The event — titled “We, Robot” in an apparent nod to the “I, Robot” science-fiction short stories by American writer Isaac Asimov — echoed Musk’s comment that Tesla “sho­uld be thought of as an AI robotics company” rather than an automaker.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2024