A Look at the Best Tesla Robotaxi Design Concepts

DominicBRNKMN

Tesla’s Robotaxi event is rapidly coming up on 10/10, so let’s take a look at some of the cool concepts that we’ve seen.

We’ll start with what we know came from Tesla, and then we’ll let loose and take a look at what the community has come up with.

Tesla’s Concept Art & Previews

Not a Tesla App

The image above is Tesla’s official Robotaxi concept art – or well, as official as it gets. This is actually from Elon Musk’s biography, written by Walter Isaacson. We’re expecting a curvy two-seat vehicle – one that goes by the moniker of Cybercab.

Next up, we have this teaser image Tesla showed off in one of their videos on X. It’s unclear which part of the vehicle it is, but it seems like it could be either the front or rear aero spoiler – though we think it distinctly looks like the front.

Tesla

We’ve also got this interior shot of the Robotaxi that was shown off in an investor video back in May. Two wide, comfy seats, and one big screen in the center.

Dominic’s Cybercab Render

DominicBRNKMN

@DominicBRNKMN on X has once again outdone himself with this Cybercab concept he’s made – the butterfly swing doors look awesome, and it fits with the expected and distinct cyber styling we’ve already seen in Tesla’s previews.

The swing doors make it look easy to get in, and there seems to be plenty of space behind the seats for luggage. We’re a big fan of those wheels too – aero wheels are going to be an important component of the Cybercab – which will need to be efficient, cheap, and prevent debris from building up.

Sugar Design’s Render

Sugar Design

Sugar Design has made a few awesome renders (including of the Model Y Juniper) before – but let’s take a look at their older batch, and then their latest batch. Sugar Design’s concept render is based on the original image from Elon’s biography – and they’ve done an excellent job bringing it to life.

We think this may be pretty close to what the Robotaxi – Cybercab – will look like. It's got that distinct Cyber feeling to it and fits closely with what we expect the lines and curves to end up looking like.

You can check out the rest of Sugar Design’s renders on Instagram here – they do some fantastic work.

Teslaconomics Render

@Teslaconomics on X threw together a quick video render of what could be a falcon-wing Cybercab. If anything, it does feel a bit bigger than what we’re expecting – in fact, it looks like it’s Model X-sized. A cool-looking Cybercab like this would be awesome.

A Tesla Cybercab that is safer, cheaper, and no human driver is going to flip any existing ride-hailing companies upside down that thinks it’s not happening pic.twitter.com/vlFGzAB4I1

— Teslaconomics (@Teslaconomics) July 22, 2024

David’s Render

a

@dkrasniy

David – going by @dkrasniy on X, made some awesome-looking concept designs of the UI of the Robotaxi. We’re a really big fan of these– they integrate drop-off information on the right and provide the FSD preview on the left.

On top of that, it brings in a way to split your fair, preview your payment information, end the ride, and even a fancy little button to ask for help – powered by xAI’s Grok. Given the nods to Tesla’s design styles, David’s work here is pretty on the nose. We would be surprised if it doesn’t end up looking very similar to this.

Vitali Minin’s Concept Art

a

@VitaliMinin

Vitali Minin - @VitaliMinin on X, also did up a cute-looking concept of the Robotaxi – we thought it would be neat to show something that’s not necessarily a render, but still an interesting-looking concept that didn’t get much attention. It fits with the cyber-style that we’re coming to expect, but we also like the sloped and curved rear that strikes a sharp profile.

These concepts are a great look at what we can expect Tesla to show off in less than two months at their Robotaxi event on October 10th.

Follow

Follow

Follow

Tesla’s Optimus Robot Learns to Walk Without Vision [VIDEO]

Optimus Falls - but catches itself!

Not a Tesla App

Tesla recently showed off a demo of Optimus, its humanoid robot, walking around in moderately challenging terrain—not on a flat surface but on dirt and slopes. These things can be difficult for a humanoid robot, especially during the training cycle.

Daily walks help clear your mind pic.twitter.com/dUsW58trS6

— Tesla Optimus (@Tesla_Optimus) December 9, 2024

A Look Behind the Curtain

Most interestingly, Milan Kovac, VP of Engineering for Optimus, clarified what it takes to get Optimus to this stage. Let’s break down what he said.

Optimus is Blind

Optimus is getting seriously good at walking now - it can keep its balance over uneven ground - even while walking blind. Tesla is currently using just the sensors, all powered by a neural net running on the embedded computer. 

Essentially, Tesla is building Optimus from the ground up, relying on as much additional data as possible while it trains vision. This is similar to how they train FSD on vehicles, using LiDAR rigs to validate the vision system’s accuracy. While Optimus doesn’t have LiDAR, it relies on all those other sensors on board, many of which will likely become simplified as vision takes over as the primary sensor.

Today, Optimus is walking blind, but it’s able to react almost instantly to changes in the terrain underneath it, even if it falls or slips. 

What’s Next?

Next up, Tesla AI will be adding vision to Optimus - helping complete the neural net. Remember, Optimus runs on the same overall AI stack as FSD - in fact, Optimus uses an FSD computer and an offshoot of the FSD stack for vision-based tasks.

Milan mentions they’re planning on adding vision to help the robot plan ahead and improve its walking gait. While the zombie shuffle is iconic and a little bit amusing, getting humanoid robots to walk like humans is actually difficult.

There’s plenty more, too - including better responsiveness to velocity and direction commands and learning to fall and stand back up. Falling while protecting yourself to minimize damage is something natural to humans - but not exactly natural to something like a robot. Training it to do so is essential in keeping the robot, the environment around it, and the people it is interacting with safe.

We’re excited to see what’s coming with Optimus next because it is already getting started in some fashion in Tesla’s factories.

Follow

Follow

Follow

Is Tesla Close to Licensing FSD? GM Quits Cruise, BMW Praises Tesla

Not a Tesla App

In a relatively surprising move, GM announced that it is realigning its autonomy strategy and prioritizing advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) over fully autonomous vehicles.

GM is effectively closing Cruise (autonomous) and focusing on its Super Cruise (ADAS) feature. The engineering teams at Cruise will join the GM teams working on Super Cruise, effectively shuttering the fully autonomous vehicle business.

End of Cruise

GM cites that “an increasingly competitive robotaxi market” and “considerable time and resources” are required for scaling the business to a profitable level. Essentially - they’re unable to keep up with competitors at current funding and research levels, putting them further and further behind.

Cruise has been offering driverless rides in several cities, using HD mapping of cities alongside vehicles equipped with a dazzling array of over 40 sensors. That means that each cruise vehicle is essentially a massive investment and does not turn a profit while collecting data to work towards Autonomy.

Cruise has definitely been on the back burner for a while, and a quick glance at their website - since it's still up for now - shows the last time they officially released any sort of major news packet was back in 2019. 

Competition is Killer

Their current direct competitor - Waymo, is funded by Google, which maintains a direct interest in ensuring they have a play in the AI and autonomy space.

Interestingly, this news comes just a month after Tesla’s We, Robot event, where they showed off the Cybercab and the Robotaxi network, as well as plans to begin deployment of the network and Unsupervised FSD sometime in 2025. Tesla is already in talks with some cities in California and Texas to launch Robotaxi in 2025.

GM Admits Tesla Has the Right Strategy

As part of the business call following the announcement, GM admitted that Tesla’s end-to-end and Vision-based approach towards autonomy is the right strategy. While they say Cruise started down that path, they’re putting aside their goals towards fully autonomous vehicles for now and focusing on introducing that tech in Super Cruise instead.

NEWS: GM just admitted that @Tesla’s end-to-end approach to autonomy is the right strategy.

“That’s where the industry is pivoting. Cruise had already started making headway down that path. We are moving to a foundation model and end-to-end approach going forward.” pic.twitter.com/ACs5SFKUc3

— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) December 10, 2024

With GM now focusing on Super Cruise, they’ll put aside autonomy and instead focus solely on ADAS features to relieve driver stress and improve safety. While those are positive goals that will benefit all road users, full autonomy is really the key to removing the massive impact that vehicle accidents have on society today.

In addition, Super Cruise is extremely limited, cannot brake for traffic controls, and doesn’t work in adverse conditions - even rain. It can only function when lane markings are clear, there are no construction zones, and there is a functional web connection. 

The final key to the picture is that the vehicle has to be on an HD-mapped and compatible highway - essentially locking Super Cruise to wherever GM has time to spend mapping, rather than being functional anywhere in a general sense, like FSD or Autopilot.

Others Impressed - Licensing FSD

Interestingly, some other manufacturers have also weighed into the demise of Cruise. BMW, in a now-deleted post, said that a demo of Tesla’s FSD is “very impressive.” There’s a distinct chance that BMW and other manufacturers are looking to see what Tesla does next. 

BMW chimes in on a now-deleted post. The Internet is forever, BMW!

Not a Tesla App

It seems that FSD has caught their eyes after We, Robot - and that the demonstrations of FSD V13.2 online seem to be the pivot point. At the 2024 Shareholder Meeting earlier in the year, Elon shared the fact that several manufacturers had reached out, looking to understand what was required to license FSD from Tesla.

There is a good chance 2025 will be the year we’ll see announcements of the adoption of FSD by legacy manufacturers - similar to how we saw the surprise announcements of the adoption of the NACS charging standard.

Follow

Follow

Follow