At a presentation with the loud title "We, Robot" (which refers to Isaac Asimov's books about robots - his work was called "I, Robot", here we have "We, Robot"), held at the Warner Brothers Hollywood studio, Elon Musk presented the future of fully autonomous cars and humanoid robots. He announced two new cars designed for full self-driving (FSD): Cybercab and Robovan, and revealed his vision of Tesla Optimus, a humanoid robotic assistant.
In general, Musk's speech had all the hallmarks of a visionary - it could literally be quoted. He announced that the future we expected in science fiction films has already arrived (not really). But it will not be the dark future we saw in Blade Runner, but a bright future. First of all, this concerns the future of big cities. Musk said that "car parks should turn into parks" and we are waiting for "robots with arms and legs instead of robots on wheels".
The future should look like the future
Musk announced the transition of Tesla's autopilots from supervised autopilot to fully self-driving (FSD) autopilot and said that Tesla has already received permission to use such autopilot in Tesla cars for the first time in Texas and California. And he said that this permission would later be extended to all of his company's cars and all states (and eventually the whole world).
Today, the main problems with using cars are the high cost of ownership (insurance, maintenance, parking spaces or garages) and low efficiency (most of the time, cars are just standing there and still take up space in cities). Fully autonomous cars are set to change the world. The time we spend travelling in cars could be used for enjoyment instead of driving fatigue: reading, watching movies, scrolling through the news, or just sleeping. Huge car parks in cities (or around airports) should be transformed into parks. The cost of travelling around the city will decrease dramatically. Visually, this new world will look like this compared to the current one:
Tesla Cybercab (Robotaxi)
New Tesla Cybercabs will have no steering wheel or pedals and will be charged by induction charging. In numbers, his thesis looks like this:
- 50 Tesla Cybercab robotaxis without steering wheel and pedals were present at the presentation
- On average, the car is used 10 hours a week out of 168
- Autonomous cars are 10 times safer than human-driven cars (a little later, Musk also said that it was 20-30 times)
- The cost of 1 bus mile in the US is now $1, autonomous Cybercabs will have an estimated operating cost of 20 cents per mile, including taxes and other expenses - 30-40 cents
- The cost of Tesla Robotaxi will be "below $ 30,000"
- Production of Tesla Cybercab is expected in 2026 (but this is not yet certain, Musk also called 2027)
Tesla Robovan
Tesla Robovan will be used to transport more people than the car's capacity. Currently, very little information about this vehicle has been released. But you can check out the comfortable interior, where the seats are arranged like in minibuses.
- Robovan can carry up to 20 people (there may be a cargo version)
- The cost of a trip on Robovan will be 51 cents per mile (this is approximate, of course)
Tesla Optimus
According to Musk, this robot will be able to perform household tasks: walk the dog, unload the trunk after shopping, look after a small child, or serve drinks when friends come over.
Your own R2D2 or C3PO
- The cost of Tesla Optimus "in the long run", i.e. not immediately, will be $20-30,000 ("less than a car")
- Each of the 8 billion people on Earth will want to have Optimus as a friend
You can watch the full presentation and after party here:
Co-founder and editor-in-chief of gagadget.com. Graduated from the Journalism Department of Kyiv National University in 1998. I made my first publications in mass media in my school years (there were still newspapers then). Observed the evolution of smartphones in the front row since Nokia 7650 on Symbian. Since 2002 he has specialized in the topic of smartphones, mobile communications and analysis of the development of the consumer electronics market.
