Elon Musk revealed a prototype of Tesla’s Robovan on Thursday night at the We, Robot event in Los Angeles. The Robovan is an electric, autonomous vehicle around the size of a bus, intended for transporting people in high-density areas. It can carry up to 20 people and also transport goods, according to Musk.
“We’re going to make this, and it’s going to look like that,” said Musk as the Robovan made its way to center stage on Thursday night. That’s all Musk was willing to disclose, and it’s uncertain if even that is accurate.
Musk did not mention the cost of the Robovan, how Tesla plans to produce it, or its release date. Regardless, the design is impressive.
The Robovan combines a retro-futuristic appearance, reminiscent of a bus from The Jetsons and a 1950s toaster. It showcases silver metallic sides with black accents, light strips running parallel to the ground along its sides, sliding doors from the middle, seating areas, standing room, and tinted windows throughout. With no steering wheel, it operates autonomously.
“One of our goals, as we’ve done with the Cybertruck, is to alter the look of roads,” Musk stated. “The future should embrace a futuristic aesthetic,” he reiterated.
The Robovan shares similarities with other purpose-built robotaxis like those by Zoox and Cruise, but Tesla’s van is considerably larger. In China, WeRide has developed a similar Robobus.
Nevertheless, the Robovan unveiled on Thursday is merely a prototype. Despite Musk’s statements, the final product’s appearance and release date are uncertain.
Tesla had kept the designs of the vehicles introduced on Thursday under wraps. The only clues were from Tesla’s 2023 Investor Day, hinting at new vehicles designed for mass production: a smaller vehicle that now seems to be the Cybercab and a larger one likely to be the Robovan.
The stated objective was to manufacture 20 million vehicles annually by 2030, necessitating a production and sales increase of about 15 times from 2022.
During the event, Musk did not detail plans for new production facilities or retooling current facilities for the Cybercab or Robovan. Timelines for the Robovan were also not provided, although production for the Cybercab was predicted to start around 2026 or 2027.
