>> Musk unveils Robovan/Tesla
Elon Musk unveiled Tesla's Robovan prototype Thursday night at the company's We, Robot event in Los Angeles. The Robovan will be an electric, autonomous vehicle about the size of a bus designed to transport people in high-density areas.
It will be able to transport up to 20 people at a time, as well as cargo, according to Musk. . This is written by the publication Techcrunch.
“We are going to do it, and it will look like this”, Musk said Thursday evening as the Robovan pulled up to center stage. That's about all Musk was willing to say, and we're not even sure much of it is true.
Musk did not mention how much the Robovan will cost, how Tesla will produce it, or when it will be released. It looks pretty cool though.
The Robovan has a retro-futuristic look– something between a bus from “The Jetsons” and a toaster from the 1950s. It has silver metal sides with black details and streaks of light running parallel to the ground along its sides, with a door that slides out from the middle. Inside there is seating and standing room, with tinted windows. There's no steering wheel because it's autonomous.
The Robovan stands out with its retro-futuristic look: watch the video
Sorry but that is not how we're going to pronounce Robovan, ever. Nope. Nopety nope. pic.twitter.com/juknSAmUls
— BrandGully (@BrandGully) October 11, 2024
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One of the things we want to do – and we did with Cybertruck – is that we want to change the way roads look, Musk said. – The future should look like the future.
It is similar to other purpose-built robotaxis, for example, those developed by Zoox and Cruise. Only the Tesla van is much bigger. In China, WeRide has built a similar Robobus.
However, the Robovan shown on Thursday is only a prototype. Despite Musk's words, it is unknown what the real thing will look like and when it will appear on the market.
Tesla has kept the design of the cars it unveiled Thursday a big secret. The only real hint came at the 2023 Investor Day, when the automaker teased a pair of new vehicles that appeared to be destined for series production: One smaller vehicle that currently looks like a Cybercab, and a larger one that we can tell is the , most likely a Robovan.
At that time, the stated goal was to produce 20 million cars per year by 2030. That would mean Tesla would have to increase production and sales roughly 15-fold starting in 2022.
During Thursday's event, Musk did not outline any plans to build new manufacturing facilities or retrofit existing ones to make them more productive. Cybercab or Robovan. He also didn't provide any information on the Robovan's release date, though he predicted Cybercab production would begin in 2026 or 2027.