On Thursday evening at 7 PM Pacific Time on October 10th, the electric car giant Tesla will unveil its Robotaxi, a self-driving rental car, at the Warner Bros Studios in California. The event will mark a highlight moment for CEO Elon Musk.
Tesla’s last concept car release was the electric pickup truck, Cybertruck, back in 2019.
The event on Thursday is named “Us, Robots,” paying homage to Isaac Asimov’s classic science fiction short story collection “I, Robot.” The novel explores the relationship between robots and humans, setting rules for robots not to harm humans or allow humans to come to harm without following human orders.
Musk previously referred to the self-driving rental car as Cybercab, aligning with the design concept revealed in Walter Isaacson’s biography of Musk in 2023. The biography mentioned Musk’s desire to introduce a two-door, two-seat compact vehicle similar to Cybertruck, featuring angular edges and stainless steel material.
This new car may not have a steering wheel or pedals. Despite resistance from Tesla engineers, Musk remained adamant about bringing this specialized vehicle to market, as the biography revealed.
However, this design may face challenges within the existing federal regulatory framework for not aligning with the set federal automotive safety standards. It will need approval from regulatory authorities before the Robotaxi can be officially launched. The public is eagerly anticipating what new concept Musk will unveil.
Tesla’s chief designer Franz Von Holzhausen told TechCrunch that the company’s existing vehicle lineup has laid the foundation for the future of Robotaxi with a novel and transparent approach towards achieving autonomous driving. The public will witness the vast human-machine interface, configurability, upgradability, and various entertainment settings of the car.
Unlike Tesla’s usual large unveiling events held at its factories, choosing the Hollywood studio signifies a significant shift, showcasing Musk’s performance skills.
During the event, the Warner Bros Studios will be open to the public, offering visitors – primarily Tesla shareholders and super fans – the chance to tour large soundstages and movie sets of popular productions like “Batman,” “Friends,” “Gilmore Girls,” “The Big Bang Theory,” and “Harry Potter.”
This venue might also be the perfect setting for Tesla to showcase its Robotaxi, as a controlled closed environment with no other vehicle traffic where the model can demonstrate low-speed autonomous driving.
Predictions for Tesla’s event on Thursday include the Robotaxi being distinct from other Tesla models by autonomously driving without the need for a human driver. It will retain Tesla’s cameras and powerful computing, differing from other autonomous vehicles on the market, which rely on sensors like LiDAR.
Additionally, Tesla might unveil another new vehicle model during the event. Speculations suggest that Musk could display a robot van (Cybervan) capable of carrying over a dozen passengers or more, or serve as an automated delivery tool.
Although the pre-event publicity mainly focuses on Robotaxi, Tesla currently faces a more pressing challenge: a potential annual decline in its car sales volume. The number of cars and pickups delivered by Tesla in the third quarter was less than 463,000 units, falling short of analysts’ expectations.
Tesla’s more affordable model announced in April and slated for production next year might also receive updates during Thursday’s event. Tesla previously indicated that these new models would be manufactured on existing production lines, likely affordable versions of their popular Model 3 sedan or Model Y SUV.
Moreover, Musk may establish partnerships with companies like Uber. In recent weeks, Uber has swiftly signed contracts with several autonomous driving companies, including Waymo, Cruise, Wayve, among others.
Fast-food giant McDonald’s may also join the mix. McDonald’s posted on X last week, “Chat is coming on October 10th.” Musk responded with an emoji, leading to anticipation for McDonald’s involvement in some kind of automated food delivery demonstration or announcement on Thursday.