(Credit: Tesla)
Elon Musk may have revealed the name of the robotaxi set to debut in August.
Rather than referring to the vehicle as a "robotaxi" as he usually does, Musk called it a "purpose-built Cybercab" on today's Q1 earnings call. We hadn't heard him reference a Cybercab before, but it fits with the brand language of the recently launched Cybertruck.
Tesla shared screenshots of the Cybercab mobile app in the earnings deck. Users will be able to press "summon" in the Tesla app to call an automated taxi, although the company is still working on securing permits to operate the vehicles on public roads.
(Credit: Tesla)Despite lawsuits over its autonomous driving technology, Tesla continues to push the project forward. This week it dropped the price for Full Self-Driving (FSD) software from $12,000 to $8,000. Drivers of non-Tesla vehicles may also be able to try FSD in the future, as Tesla is "in conversations with one major automaker about licensing FSD," Musk said during the call.
“We’re super excited about our autonomy roadmap," Musk said today. "We’re headed for an electric vehicle and autonomous future. In the future, gasoline cars that are not autonomous will be like driving a horse and using a flip phone, and that will become very obvious in hindsight.”
Tesla saw a dip in its market share, as shown in the graph below. Following recent layoffs, Tesla is now working to reorganize the company for "the next phase of growth," Musk said.
(Credit: Tesla)Regarding rumors that Tesla is scrapping plans for a sub-$25,000 vehicle to focus on the robotaxi/Cybercab launch, Musk only noted that "there’s been a lot of talk about our upcoming vehicle line in the past several weeks" and dodged a question about timelines for the $25,000 vehicle by shifting the answer to the importance of autonomous driving technology.
Tesla announced an updated Model 3 Performance trim today, complete with sportier seats and improved stats. It goes from 0-60mph in 2.9 seconds, features 5% reduced drag, and has more power and torque yet lower energy consumption, Tesla says.