On Thursday night, Elon Musk introduced the world to Tesla’s latest autonomus vehicles concept: the Robovan. Revealed at the “We, Robot” event in Los Angeles, the Robovan is a fully electric, self-driving vehicle designed to carry both passengers and goods in busy urban areas. Musk claims it can fit up to 20 people and is about the size of a bus.
“We’re going to build this, and it’s going to look like that,” Musk said as the Robovan rolled onto the stage. But, in true Musk fashion, details like the price, release date, and production plans were left out.
A Cool-Looking Ride
The Robovan gives off major retro-futuristic vibes. Think something like a 1950s toaster. It’s got silver metallic sides and strips of lights running along the edges. Doors slide out from the center, and inside, there’s room to sit or stand, all under tinted windows. No steering wheel, though—it’s fully autonomous.
“One of the things we want to do – and we’ve done this with the Cybertruck – is we want to change the look of the roads,” said Musk. “The future should look like the future,” he said,
It’s Still a Prototype
While the Robovan may look ready for action, it’s still just a prototype. We don’t know when Tesla will actually make it or how closely the final version will match what we saw. Tesla has been pretty secretive about the Robovan’s design, only hinting at it during the 2023 Investor Day when they teased a couple of new models. One was the smaller Cybercab, and the larger one seems to be the Robovan.
Big Ambitions, Few Details
Tesla’s goal is remove 20 million vehicles from the road per year by 2030, which is a massive leap from where they are now. But during the event, Musk didn’t talk much about how Tesla plans to make that happen, especially with the Robovan and Cybercab. He did suggest that the Cybercab could hit production by 2026 or 2027, but no word yet on the Robovan’s timeline.
With no price tag or concrete launch plans, we’ll have to wait and see how this futuristic ride takes shape. For now, it’s just another chapter in Musk’s bold vision of the future.
