Tesla's Cybercab Robotaxi Will Likely Get Remote Human Operators at First

Tesla's upcoming, long-promised, so-called Cybercab robotaxi that has been teased for almost half a decade was finally revealed in early October 2024 at the Warner Bros. Discovery movie studio lot in California. The Tesla robotaxi reveal event was initially promised by CEO Elon Musk to happen August 8th. A Tesla hardware hacker also recently claimed that the electric vehicle automaker has been collecting fresh data around the Warner Bros. site lately, possibly to help prepare for the event.

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Tesla revealed a purpose-built self-driving vehicle dubbed the Cybercab, plus more, with a single row of seats for two people, a lack of traditional instruments, butterfly doors, and a rather large rear wheel, with interesting wheel covers on all corners. The new vehicle navigated the studio lot with Musk inside, hands clasped at his chin the whole time it delivered him to the stage. It was a somewhat controlled environment that could still replicate real-world streets and signage for the demonstration, including a bus and cyclists.

Musk claimed the Cybercab vehicle would cost less than $30,000 and go into full production around 2026; he anticipates full self-driving unsupervised on public roads in Texas and California by 2025. An updated report from Reuters claims investors learned Tesla will develop its own app service for ride-sharing, and could need to use human override operators to control the vehicles manually remotely when the program launches in Texas and California, as the FSD tech is not ready for primetime yet. The remote operators will be there to monitor safety conditions and take over for difficult maneuvers or when vehicles get stuck in various situations, which is similar to what other self-driving pilot programs deploy.

The Cybercab is also said to use inductive charging instead of a traditional wired plug.

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Tesla also revealed a so-called Robovan with seating for up to 20 people, no windshield, and no traditional controls. Musk said unsupervised self-driving vehicles will eventually be up to 20 times safer than human drivers, and cheaper to operate than city buses.

Earlier this year, Rimac unveiled a similar city-focused robotaxi concept dubbed the Verne and pictured above. The robotaxi service uses a "Mothership" system, where a central location for charging and maintenance is established in a city before it can start taxi service. Two occupants are greeted by a large internal entertainment and navigation information screen. It's possible the rumored compact concept vehicle Tesla may have in development could be similar in dimension and purpose to Rimac's Verne.

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