Musks Autobauer: Tesla lässt ausgewählte Käufer Robotaxis vorbestellen

Tesla, the electric car manufacturer led by Elon Musk, has announced that it will begin selling select customers a limited number of new vehicles called Cybercabs. These vehicles are designed for private use without a steering wheel or pedals. The price for one of these Cybercabs is estimated to be around $29,990 (currently about €27,000). In addition to this one-time purchase price, customers will also need to pay a monthly subscription fee of $299 for autonomous operation.

The delivery of these vehicles is expected to begin in December. However, it was initially unclear how many of these vehicles would be made available for private purchase. This announcement marks Tesla's fulfillment of a previous promise, as the company's CEO Musk had previously indicated that the majority of Cybercabs would be used within Tesla's own Robotaxi fleet.

There are some restrictions for those who do purchase a Cybercab. The autonomous driving feature will only be available in areas where Tesla's Robotaxi service is also offered. The company's manager Ashok Elluswamy confirmed this on the social media platform X. Tesla explicitly emphasizes that private use of these vehicles is permitted, and autonomous driving will be achieved exclusively through cameras.

Unlike competitors such as Waymo, which also uses laser radars for better reliability in all weather conditions, Musk has stated that his vision for Tesla's future lies in producing humanoid robots and autonomous vehicles using only cameras.

Critics, including some experts and competitors, argue that relying solely on cameras for autonomous driving is not yet reliable enough. Waymo, meanwhile, announced plans to integrate its own autonomous driving technology into private cars in the future. Tesla also faced criticism from the US transportation authority, the NHTSA, over the vehicle's physical controls.

While Tesla can legally produce vehicles with up to 2,500 units without a steering wheel or pedals, the NHTSA demanded an explanation of how Tesla could meet safety requirements without these features. Musk recently announced that production of the Cybertruck would be halted mid-year to free up capacity for Cybercabs. The Cybertruck, with its futuristic stainless steel design, was initially priced around $40,000, but ended up costing $82,490 in the base model.

Tesla had projected the ability to produce up to 250,000 of these pickup trucks per year, but only sold around 20,000 last year.