Support CleanTechnica’s work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe.
The intertubes were buzzing over the weekend about — no, not the little dustup in Caracas! — the really big news. Elon Musk now says production of the Tesla Cybercab will begin later this year. Be still my beating heart! A two-passenger coupe with a steeply sloping roof and scissor doors like the ones that drove auto enthusiasts wild when they debuted on the Lamborghini Countach in … 1974.
Spotted a Cybercab in downtown Austinbyu/agos46 inAustin
Reddit Austin user agos46 posted a photo of a Cybercab driving on the streets of Austin, Texas, recently and the car does look sleek and ultra-modern. But sharp-eyed readers will note there is a human driver in that photo and he seems to have his hands on an actual steering wheel. The Cybercab reportedly will dispense with all such last-century controls — a steering wheel, an accelerator, and a brake pedal, along with turn signals, wiper controls, and anything else that people think of as being normal for the interior of an automobile.
Promises, Promises
Not everyone is going gaga over this vehicle. Let’s start with a quote from Elon the Incredible — and we mean that quite literally. He claims Tesla will produce two million Cybercabs a year. Really? And who is going to buy all of those vehicles? SpaceX? USPS? Inquiring minds want to know.
Here we go again with a self-confessed drug addict writing checks he can’t cash. Anybody remember when the DOGE Father said Tesla would be producing 20 million electric cars a year by 2030? Does anyone think that goal will actually be reached, as Tesla sales continue to sink in virtually all major markets (except Norway)? We have a graphic of Elon up on the wall in the executive dining room at CleanTechnica’s posh global headquarters with this inscription: “Wolf! Wolf! Wolf! Wolf! Wolf!”
There are a couple of things that make me think the Cybercab will be as big a bust as the woeful Cybertruck that preceded it. Once again, Tesla is plowing forward with a controversial design not because there is any market research to show there is a demand for it, but because the boss has a child-like fixation with the movie Blade Runner 2049.
In fact, Tesla asked Alcon Entertainment for permission to use imagery from that movie for its Cybercab event. Alcon denied its request, but Tesla used AI-generated images at a Cybercab event that were similar to images from the movie anyway. Alcon sued Tesla for copyright infringement and false endorsement. Being the wealthiest person in human history means you don’t have to abide by any laws or even act like a grown-up, apparently. The lawsuit is pending and should be resolved before the end of this decade — maybe.
Stupid Cybercab Tricks
Here are a couple of things about the Cybercab that are just plain stupid. Let’s start with those scissor doors. Can anyone tell us how they will open in the event of a crash that disables the car’s electrical system? Ordinary doors with hinges can swing free with very little force, but it takes energy to lift a scissor door into the open position. If there is no electrical power, who is going to do that?
Taxi users are typically not known for their well developed physiques. Some will have physical disabilities that make getting in and out difficult under the best of circumstances. Is Elon assuming someone who needs a wheelchair or a walker and has just been involved in a serious collision will have the strength to raise the door to exit the vehicle? Apparently so, assuming the great man has given the matter any thought at all.
The Cybercab appears to be a two-door hatchback version of the Model 3 or Model Y. We don’t have any physical dimensions yet, so it is impossible to make meaningful comparisons. The styling cues, particularly at the front, do look familiar, however. Where will people with walkers and wheelchairs store them when riding in a Cybercab? Musk blithely claims there will be room for them but gives no details. Maybe he assumes disabled people will simply take a Waymo or an Uber?
Now let’s talk about luggage carrying capacity. I don’t know if you have ever taken a cruise, but many passengers show up with steamer trunks large enough for the wardrobe of an entire circus. Will such ponderous pieces fit inside a Cybercab without securing the hatch with twine or a bungee cord? With such an extreme taper from the seats’ backs to the rear bumper, that answer seems to be “no.”
Below is a photo of an actual taxi that has been developed over many decades to fit the needs of taxi customers in London. See the difference?
Credit: LEVC
100 Percent Autonomous
The Cybercab will be 100 percent autonomous, something that a London taxi is not. Although, there may be human monitors in a windowless room somewhere to assist when the unexpected happens. The good news is that Tesla will finally be forced to take legal responsibility for its vaunted self-driving software, something it has stubbornly refused to do until now.
The passengers will have no obligation to pay attention to the road ahead, so anything that happens, the burden is fully on Tesla. It will be interesting to see how the company responds to that challenge. To date, its strategy has been to force claimants to pursue arduous legal remedies that can involve years of litigation and significant financial costs. It may require Cybercab customers to waive their rights to take legal action and agree to binding arbitration instead.
Musk has promised a full range of wondrous onboard entertainment options for passengers, including a premium sound system, ample opportunities for gaming, and other options that take the place of conversations with an actual cab driver. The car will also feature wireless charging to eliminate the need to actually plug it into a charger.
FMVSS
The current administration, under the watchful eye of a former Faux Comedy Channel host, is in a panic to get autonomous cars with no steering wheel, pedals, or sideview mirrors approved because it is very important to beat the Chinese to this important goal. Never mind that Chinese cars are effectively banned in the US. But the current Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards limit the number each manufacturer can sell to 2500 units per year.
So, let’s see. Musk says 2 million a year but the limit is 2500. Are you seeing the dilemma here? As usual, Musk is out ahead of his skis and hoping stockholders won’t notice the discrepancy. He is glowing in his praise of how crazy fast the Cybercab production line is, claiming: “If you’ve seen the design of the Cybercab line, it doesn’t look like a normal car manufacturing line. It looks like a really high speed consumer electronics line. In fact, the line will move so fast that actually people can’t even get close to it.”
A Prediction
Wow. All that to build 2500 vehicles a year? Sure, some of those production tweaks will find their way into other assembly lines at Tesla, but manufacturing speed is really not the issue. Declining sales are the issue, and Musk has absolutely nothing to say on that topic. “Don’t look over here at our crappy sales numbers. Look over here at our super-fast Cybercab assembly line instead!”
So, here’s my prediction. The Cybercab will debut to much fanfare and ballyhoo, just as the Cybertruck did. Then, when people learn what it is all about, it will follow the Cybertruck into oblivion. So many millions of dollars wasted on a product that will be another albatross around the neck of Musk. That’s money that could have been devoted to developing what the company desperately needs — affordable sedans, SUVs, commercial vans, and pickup trucks.
Some believe the Cybercab push is designed to outdo Waymo — sort of a multi-billion dollar grudge match. That may be part of it, but another key element is proving the worth of Full Self Driving — at long last. Musk has a lot riding on proving his much-hyped FSD works. Soon the world will know for certain whether it functions as advertised or not. Stay tuned.
Sign up for CleanTechnica’s Weekly Substack for Zach and Scott’s in-depth analyses and high level summaries, sign up for our daily newsletter, and follow us on Google News!
Advertisement
Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Sign up for our daily newsletter for 15 new cleantech stories a day. Or sign up for our weekly one on top stories of the week if daily is too frequent.
[embedded content]
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.
CleanTechnica’s Comment Policy
Share this story!