Tesla recently hosted a "We, Robot" event and outlined ambitious new plans for a new fleet of autonomous vehicles. The event was rolled out on a Hollywood movie set, where the "Cyber cab" came out-a futuristic self-driving car sans steering wheel and built to eventually become a kind of rentable mobile Airbnb.
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| Image by Tesla / Futurism |
The Hype vs. Reality
With the hype surrounding the announcement, well-known tech critic Marques "MKBHD" Brownlee came forth with very large issues in a fresh video. He termed most of what Tesla promised as impossible, without practical solutions.
Unreasonably High Pricing
One of the largest red flags is Tesla's statement that the Cyber cab will have a price tag of just $30,000. This would imply that Tesla has to launch the Cybertruck in an environment where the company is still fighting to overcome the launches of the Cybertruck. Any person with any type of knowledge of Tesla would ask himself where such low price point could emanate from for such a heavy, complex autonomous-vehicle.
Technical and Regulatory Challenges
The second issue is that of pricing, through which Tesla is a far cry from defeating the massive regulatory hurdles in deploying its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software without compromise on safety. Several bugs in the FSD system have put the company under intense scrutiny, with much work needed to bring it up to the mark of safety standards. It remains highly ambitious for Musk to put the Cyber cab into the market by 2027.
Tesla's concept of a robotaxi is a showstopper; however, the possibility of bringing this product to market bears little resemblance to the description. It's not likely that such a product will ever materialize given the cost, technological, and regulatory challenges it presents to developers.
Tesla's Robotaxi: Flawed Design Conceptualization and Overhyped Expectation
Tesla has unveiled its robotaxi prototype, which has received a lot of bashing from the tech industry experts, especially about the conceptualization and practicality of the design. In this video, Marques "MKBHD" Brownlee, one of the famous tech reviewerts, has indeed done just that and highlighted various problematic aspects of the said vehicle.
The people capacity is really inadequate.
It can only carry two passengers, which severely limits its potential appeal. In most cases, this would make it very impractical for most travellers unless you are either traveling alone or with just one other person. This limited seating poses quite some questions about whether it would ever be viable as a widely used ride-hailing option.
Problematic Gull-Wing Doors
Tesla adopted its gull-wing rear doors, like those on its Model X SUV. But Brownlee referenced the many hassles created by those rear doors for Model X owners, which has kept Tesla from duplicating them. And now it goes back to that feature that caused so much trouble.
Sleek but helplessly big Wheels
To begin with, the sleek and aerodynamic wheels of the robotaxi look futuristic. Brownlee discovered, however that they are only ordinary Continental tires dipped in gold paint. This raises the concern that aesthetics has become the priority of the vehicle over real innovation.
Lack of Rear Visibility
The other glaring weakness is that the vehicle lacks any rear view. Brownlee noted that due to the fact that the trim goes along the full roofline, it becomes virtually impossible or at least extremely difficult for the person driving the vehicle or sitting in the car to know what is going on behind the vehicle.
No Emergency Manual Override
The most disturbing finding by Brownlee is the lack of manual overrides. In a robotaxi, passengers will have no controls such as pedals or steering wheels. This leaves them powerless to take control in case of an emergency. Even if the elimination of any need for intervention is the dream, it is not something expected to happen using current available technology.
No Physical Charging Port
Another strange decision the robotaxi makes is its reliance on external wireless charging pads. Comparing it to Tesla's Supercharger network, which is quite well set up within the market, using road-integrated charging pads instead of this already established system should make it incompatible with Tesla's existing infrastructure, another practicality to be considered.
Missing Key Features
Ironically, the robotaxi doesn't come with a front trunk-or "frunk," in the parlance of car enthusiasts-an amenity that is included in many electric vehicles. Also missing from Tesla's announcement was information on key specs such as its battery size and range; and of course, this means there are several unsolved mysteries about the capabilities of the car.
Brownlee's Verdict
Brownlee sounded very skeptical over Tesla's production timeline. He believed with a mere price tag of $30,000 and promised launch by 2027, Tesla cannot deliver the dream. "There's just no way they're actually going to be able to do it," he argued. To this effect, Brownlee was so confident in his prediction that he humorously promised to shave his head on camera if Tesla manages to deliver on its promise.
Tesla's driverless taxi is a highly ambitious project that has many design and technical hurdles over it, which makes its future uncertain.