Tesla (TSLA) has been shipping its Cybercab robotaxi prototypes to company showrooms across the US over the last few weeks. These prototypes are displayed so visitors can take a closer look at them in person.
In some instances, Tesla Cybercab engineering team members are also present at these Tesla Stores. Tesla engineers explain the features and design philosophy behind Tesla’s futuristic robotaxi vehicle and also take questions from the live audience.
A video of a Tesla engineer explaining the Cybercab at a Tesla Store surfaced on Elon Musk’s social media platform X (Twitter) last week.
Tesla Cybercab’s Two-Seat Two-Door Design Explained
Since the unveiling of the vehicle, a question has constantly been asked, “Why does the Tesla Cybercab have only two seats?”. The Tesla engineer in this video answered this question in detail. In short, it all revolves around the efficiency of the vehicle and having fewer parts.
“Efficiency is not just on energy consumption basis, it’s on the concept of cleaning — it’s also on the concept of reliability and service as well,” the Tesla engineer said.
“Two seats unlocks a lot of opportunities aerodynamically, it also means we cut the part count by a significant margin,” he added.
Data suggests that 82% of miles driven today on cars is with 2 or fewer passengers. Based on this metric, Tesla decided to design the Cybercab robotaxi with only two seats. Tesla Cybercabs don’t have a steering wheel and will be runnin on the company’s Autopilot Full Self-Driving (FSD) system which eliminates the need for a driver as well.
According to Tesla Engineering, having 2 doors and 2 seats also makes it easy for the vehicle to get self-cleaned. The tech & EV automaker demonstrated a Cybercab self-cleaning mechanism during the We, Robot live-streaming event.
The basic purpose of a robotaxi is ridesharing, the vehicles are bound to get dirtier compared to purely personal cars. Tesla has already envisioned this problem and has designed the Cybercab car with a more minimalistic approach to make auto cleaning by robots easier.
“It also means when you need to clean the car as a rideshare asset, you don’t really have worry about navigating multiple doors, multiple seats, you really just have — really what looks like a bench seat easy to clean automatically,” the Tesla engineer noted.
“And you have very few pockets of space where you’re gonna have certain things that are obviously not gonna be desirable to maintain on a daily basis,” he explained further.
Having only two seats in the Cybercab, Tesla was able to add a large trunk to the vehicle. In the official promotional video (above), Tesla showed that you can adjust a large amount of luggage in its boot space.
Large luggage space especially comes in handy for travelers running to and from the airport. People catching long-distance flights need to take extra luggage with them, Tesla Cybercab robotaxi has enough space for them to carry their luggage.
Someone from the audience asked pointing towards the Cybercab’s open butterfly doors, “How are these doors more efficient?”.
Tesla lead engineer explained that because of having 2 doors and no B-pillar, the seats are placed in an optimum position for entrance and egress. The B-pillar won’t be a hurdle in entering or departing the Cybercab, so the doors help in overall efficiency. He also hinted that there is a possibility of design change in these doors in the final product.
He also talked about the wheels and tires of the Tesla Cybercab. Large tires of the vehicle reduce rolling resistance and coupled with aerodynamic wheel covers add to the overall efficiency of the futuristic vehicle.
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