What is the Tesla Cybercab? Elon Musk unveils new robotaxi

Elon Musk has revealed Tesla's new robotaxi called Cybercab, a Robovan and plans to make its Model 3 and Model Y cars have unsupervised autonomous driving capabilities in California and Texas by next year.

Musk spoke at a Tesla event called We, Robot at Warner Bros Studios in Burbank, California on October 10 and in typical Musk / Tesla fashion, it was a flamboyant event showcasing the very cutting edge of technology.

As well as the vehicles being revealed, Tesla's human robots called Optimus were among the crowd, serving drinks and even dancing and performing together with Musk saying a "lot of progress" has been made with them.

Musk arrived at the event in a Cybercab which are vehicles described as 'premium point-to-point electric transport, accessible to everyone'.

He said: "The cost of autonomous transport will be so low that you can think of it like individualised mass transit.

"The average cost of a bus per mile for a city, not ticket price, but the average price is about a dollar a mile whereas the cost of Cybercab we think probably, over time, the operating cost will be around 20 cents a mile.

"Price including taxes and everything else probably ends up being 30 or 40 cents a mile and you will be able to buy one.

"We expect the cost to be below $30,000."

Musk said the vehicles could be used like taxis when the owner doesn't need to use them.

Pictures were shared on social media showing the Cybercab up close.

The Cybercab will not have a steering wheel or pedals and will have inductive charging rather than a plug.

Musk said it would be in production "before 2027".

Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y vehicles will have unsupervised self-driving starting next year in parts of America and potentially across the rest of the world depending on regulatory approval.

A Robovan was announced that can carry up to 20 people and goods but there is no further news about that at present.

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.