Make your robotaxi predictions for the 8/8 reveal

So Elon says that Tesla will reveal a dedicated robotaxi vehicle on 8/8. What do you think we will see? Will it look like this concept art or something else?

I will say that while this concept drawing looks super cool, I am a bit skeptical if it is practical as a robotaxi. It looks to only have 2 seats which would be fine for 1-2 people who need a ride but would not work for more than 2 people. I feel like that would limit the robotaxis value for a lot of people. Also, it would likely need a steering wheel and pedals for regulatory reasons even if Tesla did achieve eyes-off capability.

So I think this is concept art for a hypothetical 2 seater, cheap Tesla, not a robotaxi.

Could the robotaxi look more like this concept art but smaller? It could look a bit more like say the Zoox vehicle or the Cruise Origin, more futuristic box like shape IMO and seat 5-6 people.

Or maybe the robotaxi will look more like the "model 2" concept:

Other questions:
- Will the robotaxis be available to own by individuals as a personal car or will it strictly be owned by Tesla and only used in a ride-hailing network?
- What will cost be?
- Will it have upgraded hardware? Radar? Lidar? additional compute?
- Will Elon reveal any details on how the ride-hailing network will work?

Thoughts? Let the fun speculation begin!

 

[uscbucsfan]

100% on point. I am glad you took the time to provide that perspective of being fast & cheap, which is why I pushed for RT based on the Model3/Y platform or at least the same camera locations at the minimum with close enough body size. You go about retraining with new set of HW with cameras and other sensors(?), and it will neither be fast nor cheap.

I never said that wasn't logical, just that Elon/Tesla have said that's not the direction they are going.

 

[voyager]

I'd say three rules of experience are relevant:
1. Average cab ride consists of carrying 1.3 person
2. Regulators' biggest concern: RTs running into other road users, expecially the more vulnerable ones
3. The smaller the RT, the more economical (also in terms of charging), the more nimble to evade traffic,
and the less harmful in case of an accident (vehicle mass co-determines kinetic energy, therefore impact)

 

[enemji]

The thing though is that a RT needs significant interior and door reconfiguration (need fully automatic doors) which might not be really feasible being based on a Model 3 Minus. Like removing the b-pillars entirely changes the structure and engineering design & crash issues.

Could be something like this with a B-Pillar (not shown)