Ali Pardiwala | 11 Oct 2024 11:43 AM
Tesla has unveiled its vision of the future of fully-autonomous self-driving, with the Robotaxi and Robovan electric vehicles. At the company's We, Robot event in Los Angeles, Tesla CEO Elon Musk showcased the fully-autonomous Robotaxi by riding in it to the event stage. Also showcased was the Robovan, a large 20-seater van which can be used to ferry people or goods. Musk stated that the Robotaxi would operate entirely autonomously, charging via induction and using AI to navigate roads. He also claimed that the cost of the vehicle would be under $30,000 (approximately Rs. 25,00,000).
The Robotaxi is, incredibly enough, completely devoid of typical driving equipment such as a steering wheel and pedals to control the accelerator and brakes. Instead, it is meant to drive itself with the help of AI to navigate roads, along with its usual apparatus of cameras and sensors. Modern Tesla vehicles do have the ability to self-drive (with human driver supervision), but the Tesla Robotaxi and Robovan signal an intent to switch entirely to a fully-autonomous approach, at least for basic vehicles meant to serve as taxis or goods carriers.
While fully-autonomous driving solutions will roll out to existing Tesla models sooner, the Robotaxi and Robovan are likely to go into production in 2026 or 2027, according to the Tesla CEO. Tesla also showcased the Tesla Bot, a humanoid robot meant to work basic tasks such as serving drinks and mowing the lawn. This is also likely to cost under $30,000, although all of these products are still very much in the concept phase and are some time away from full-fledged production and application.