Tesla Cybercab and Robovan changing commuters life

This October 2024, Tesla showcased their new line of transportation vehicles, which included the Robotaxi or Cybercab and the Robovan or Robovin, as Elon Musk calls it. This pair of full self-driving vehicles promises to be game changers for commuters and transportation. These will bring cleaner air and an opportunity to reduce the concrete footprint of parking lots in cities.

For those of us who are used to driving Tesla cars using the Full Self-Driving –Supervised (FSD-S) technology, the advertised capabilities for these vehicles are not a surprise.

Image Credit -Tesla

The Tesla Cybercab

Tesla Cybercab, currently planned as a fleet of Model Y and Model 3 vehicles, will be a fully autonomous vehicle with no driver. Several large cities have seen this type of technology brought by other companies like Waymo in California; however, there are considerable differences with the Cyberabc.

Waymo limits its car services to within a 63 square mile area, from Santa Monica to Downtown Los Angeles, and does not operate on the highway. These vehicles also have protruding parts for the cameras, assisting their full self-driving capabilities and making these vehicles evident outsiders in the streets.

Tesla vehicles using the FSD-S technology, which is the technology that gave rise to the Cybercab, are just like any other vehicle. Thousands of cars roamed cities and highways with the FSD-S capabilities for a while now. The data shared with Tesla from drivers like me provides a large amount of footage from city and highway driving and helps Tesla increase the amount of data for their AI models.

AI in Tesla Cars

Opposite to what many think, Tesla self-driving started on the highway with incredible capabilities. For the first years, with only a limited amount of real images, Tesla used images and C++ code to support self-driving. Even then, with the roll out of their FSD-S four years ago, people were amazed to see how seamlessly Tesla moved around cities. Through the years, the FSD-S capability has improved even more. Now, Tesla cars sort out all kind of traffic as a pro driver would.

Tesla recently incorporated a large amount of real images into their learning AI models. With this new version, the car is now even more cautious when approaching intersections. Although it might be somewhat annoying the slowdown even with a green light, it is a necessary safety feature, considering the number of accidents caused by distracted drivers who don’t have this technology in their cars. Since AI is a technology that learns from large amounts of data, as time goes by and the data for the learning models augment, iterations, validation, and tuning to changes in the environment will make the Tesla experience even better.

Understanding how AI works and having experienced FSD-S in other Tesla cars, it is easy to believe that the Cybercab will be a reality soon. These vehicles’ slick and futuristic look will be a pleasant improvement to the current fully autonomous taxis. Furthermore, the lack of protruding cameras on the roof or the sides does not diminish in any way the safety and capabilities of the vehicles, Tesla has all this integrated in their vehicles.

Image Credit -Tesla

Cybercab cost

Another feature that pulls these vehicles apart is the expected price tag. Tesla has already proven it can produce affordable electric vehicles. They aim to offer the Cybercab for only $30,000, hoping smaller investors will jump at the opportunity to start new transportation companies.

Tesla also plans to introduce inductive charging, eliminating the need for a human to connect the vehicle to a charging station. These charging stations could also have robots to clean the vehicle, preparing it for a pleasant ride for future passengers.

Image Credit -Tesla

The Robovan

Another full self-driving transportation vehicle is the Robovan. It will have the same capabilities as the Cybercab but a capacity of up to 20 people. With its larger size, it will be more convenient for transporting larger groups or teams. The Robavan, for sure, will be the stepping stone for larger autonomous transportation vehicles in the future.

The benefits to the environment

With its fleet of Cybercabs and Robovans, Tesla also has an important environmental goal.

Today’s Public transportation is mainly available in large cities and within limited areas, where the density of people and businesses makes this type of transportation cost effective and a strategic improvement to the quality of life. With the Cybercab and the Robovan, Tesla looks to make mass transportation possible and extensive, and improve the commuting experience at a lower cost.

By increasing the number of electric vehicles on the road and mobilizing people more widely and safely, Tesla wants to reduce the need for parking lots and open the possibility of having more green areas around big gathering centers.

Ιndeed, there are many benefits behind these new Tesla vehicles.