Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) has intentionally leaked glimpses of its Robotaxi vehicle in a new video.
The automaker posted this video on X in favor of its CEO Elon Musk to convince shareholders to vote for Elon Musk in getting his 2018 Performance Award compensation of around $50 billion.
According to Elon Musk, the Tesla team put this video together by their own will and he did not ask for it. “The Tesla team put this together of their own volition (I did not ask for it). Thanks!,” he wrote in an X post on Monday.
However, our focus today is on two Robotaxi images that Tesla inserted at the start of this video. They almost flash away in less than a second — hardly visible to the common observer.
But the Tesla community takes a keen interest in the company’s developments, therefore, these Tesla Robotaxi pictures were caught instantly by enthusiasts.
Tesla Robotaxi (Cybercab) Interior
Tesla intentionally inserted a picture of the interior of the Robotaxi and one of the exterior of the upcoming vehicle. Earlier this year, Elon Musk announced that the Tesla Robotaxi will be unveiled on 8th August 2024. However, months before the event, Tesla leaked these pictures to spark further interest in the vehicle and keep its community excited.
The first picture is of the interior of the Robotaxi. The reason for strongly believing this is that no existing Tesla vehicle’s interior matches this setup. Two flat front-row seats without a center console with just a touchscreen display in the middle. More interestingly, there is no steering wheel visible in this picture.
The more interesting thing about this ultra-minimalistic interior is the absence of a steering wheel. What’s the purpose of having a Robotaxi if it doesn’t completely drive itself? So, it’s clear that on 8/8, the automaker will be unveiling a steering-less vehicle that completely runs on Autopilot (Full Self-Driving).
Tesla Robotaxi (Cybercab) is built on the automaker’s next-gen smaller and more affordable electric car platform. This next-gen Tesla car is expected to be in a price range of under $25,000. From the leaked pictures, it looks like it will be a two-seater vehicle intended for city driving or shorter journeys.
However, this image might be from an initial rendering from an internal presentation of the Tesla Cybercab. We might see significant changes at the unveil and even after that as the production begins next year (as per Elon Musk during the Q1 2024 earnings call).
Because of the absence of the steering wheel, Tesla will most probably offer Robotaxi service in geofenced areas in the first phase of the rollout. As Full Self-Driving is solved, Tesla will expand the Cybercab/Robotaxi service to locations where regulators approve it.
Robtaxi Exterior
A teaser shot of the exterior of the Tesla Cybercab (Robotaxi) was also inserted into the intro of Elon Musk’s vote video (above). This photo is most probably of the rear bumper and diffuser of the vehicle.
Elon Musk shared a concept image of the Tesla Robotaxi aka Cybercab in his biography written by Walter Isaacson last year. I found this image on Page no. 501 of the book while reading the book. If we look at the teaser photo and the concept image one by one, we can easily get the idea that this is part of the Tesla Robotaxi (look below).
To enhance the leaked Cybercab picture, I removed the shadows and darkness from the image. Increasing the brightness helped expose the visible exterior of the vehicle.
From what I can understand looking at this picture, the Tesla Cybercab Robotaxi will have a look closer to the Cybertruck. It may not be as boxy or pointy as the Cybertruck but seems to have borrowed some of the design pattern from the unorthodox Tesla EV pickup truck.
Tesla has to keep the design simple and minimalistic to reduce costs. The other benefit of simplicity will result in a much smoother production ramp-up of the vehicle. Tesla CEO Elon Musk believes the next-gen ≤$25K smaller Tesla vehicle and the Robotaxi will be the best-selling cars of the future.
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