Tesla Robot taxi Ride Along | Elon Musk unveils two door robot taxi

Elon Musk has unveiled Tesla's latest developments in autonomous vehicles, including a two-door robotaxi with gull-wing doors and no steering wheel or pedals. The robotaxi, showcased at an event on Thursday, reflects Tesla's shift from being a mass-market automaker to a robotics-focused company. Musk arrived on stage in a prototype "Cybercab," which he announced will go into production by 2026 and will be priced under $30,000. He highlighted that the cost of operating these robotaxis could drop to 20 cents per mile, and charging will be inductive, eliminating the need for plugs.

These autonomous vehicles rely solely on artificial intelligence and cameras, without the additional hardware used by Tesla's competitors—a decision some investors and analysts view as risky, both technically and from a regulatory standpoint. Musk declared, "The autonomous future is here," noting that 50 fully autonomous vehicles were present at the event, including Model Ys and the new Cybercab, all operating without drivers.

In addition to the robotaxi, Musk introduced a larger self-driving vehicle called the Robovan, designed to transport up to 20 passengers. He also showcased Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot. Musk envisions a future where Tesla operates a fleet of autonomous taxis that can be hailed via an app, while Tesla owners could potentially list their own vehicles as robotaxis to earn extra income.

The event, held at Warner Bros. Studios in Los Angeles, was titled "We, Robot," a nod to Isaac Asimov's "I, Robot" stories and Musk’s vision of Tesla as an AI robotics company rather than just an automaker. Attendees included investors, analysts, and Tesla enthusiasts.

However, despite the excitement, some investors were left frustrated by the lack of concrete timelines for scaling up robotaxi production, securing regulatory approval, and implementing a competitive business plan. Dennis Dick, a trader at Triple D Trading, expressed his disappointment, saying, "Everything looks cool, but not much in terms of timelines... I don't think he said much about anything."

Musk acknowledged that he is often overly optimistic with timelines. He had previously promised operational robotaxis by 2020, a target that was missed. This year, he refocused efforts on developing these vehicles, abandoning earlier plans for a smaller, cheaper EV to counter slowing demand.

Tesla may be facing its first-ever drop in deliveries as sales incentives have failed to attract enough buyers for its aging EV lineup, and steep price cuts have hurt profit margins. The robotaxi market is notoriously difficult, with companies like General Motors' Cruise, Amazon's Zoox, and Chinese competitors like WeRide facing technical and regulatory hurdles, as well as financial losses.

Unlike competitors who rely on expensive hardware like lidar, Musk is betting on cameras and AI to drive Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology. FSD, however, requires constant driver supervision and has been under legal and regulatory scrutiny following fatal accidents. Musk announced that fully autonomous, unsupervised FSD would launch in Texas and California next year, starting with the Model 3 and Model Y, but he did not confirm whether the robotaxis would depend on FSD or new technology.