Tesla Puts Its Money On The Cybercab

Tesla has tried to keep a step ahead of its rivals and one way their boss Elon Musk is to surprise their competitors with various breakthroughs and unconventional announcements. After several months promoting Donald Trump and sparring with EU authorities, Musk took a step back and reported that Tesla is unveiling its long-awaited robotaxi prototype, the Cybercab.

These self-driving cars have long been a flagship project of Musk and he has made a series of bold predictions about them every chance he gets. The last pronouncement he made is that the Cybercab will save lives or earn their owners money, through being rented out for rides or even overnight stays.

He is also aware that his premature announcement he will be under pressure to quell persistent doubts about the electric vehicle maker's ability to execute on his ambitions. It was already delayed, having been originally slated for release in August before being moved to October.

Musk explained any away that the latest delay has to do with some last minute changes from him.

"Requested what I think is an important design change to the front, and extra time allows us to show off a few other things," Musk wrote in a July post on his social media platform X.

But analysts say it is now time for the company to show real progress with the project.

'There is certainly heavy build-up after discussing the Robotaxi concept without concrete details for so long," said Jessica Caldwell of edmunds.com.

"The expectation is that this event should clear the air on the concept," Caldwell added, saying it would be a "letdown" if Tesla fails to reveal a developed concept and operational details on 10 October.

Relatively little is known so far about the Cybercab.

According to reports, it will have two seats and butterfly wings. It is thought it will use a combination of cameras and computing power to navigate the roads, as opposed to laser-based sensors, known as Lidar, favoured by rivals.

Musk has hinted that when complete, some of the robotaxis in Tesla's network would be owned and operated by the company, but that Tesla owners would have the option to rent their vehicles out on Tesla's network when they are not driving them.