Tesla is going to unveil its robotaxi: Cybercap is a big gamble

Elon Musk, head of Tesla, will present today, Thursday, at the Warner Bros studios in California the company’s highly anticipated robotaxi prototype, the Cybercab.

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Autonomous cars have long fascinated Elon Musk, who has made a series of bold predictions about them, such as that they will save lives or make money for their owners by renting them out for rides or even for overnight stays.

But when he takes the stage at the event, Elon Musk will be under pressure to dispel the persistent doubts about the electric vehicle manufacturer’s ability to meet its ambitions. Tesla has been struggling with this for a few years.

The project has experienced several delays: initially it was scheduled to go on sale in August, but then it was postponed to October. Musk explained the latest delay by saying it was due to some last-minute changes on his part.

“I have requested what I believe is an important design change at the front, and the extra time allows us to show some other things,” Musk wrote in a July post on Twitter.

But analysts say that the time has come for the company to show real progress in the project.

We know almost nothing about the Cybercab and that is concerning

According to reports, it will have two seats and butterfly doors. It is believed to use a combination of cameras and computing power to navigate the roads, unlike the laser-based sensors, known as Lidar, preferred by its rivals.

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

The “We, Robot” event takes place as some senior executives, including the head of Tesla’s new vehicle program, have recently left the company.

Some have also said that it would be better for the company to focus on a low-cost electric vehicle (EV) to bolster its position against the growing competition from other EV automakers.