Tesla CEO Elon Musk has revealed bold plans for autonomous robot vehicles at an event in Hollywood, California, introducing two new futuristic models. The Robotaxi and the cyber cab are known to be on different lists.
Delivering his speech at the event, Musk pointed to the opportunities given by the current trends in the development of such self-driving automobiles to help revolutionize public transportation systems, as unmanned vehicles will not require passengers’ supervision in any way.
Musk introduced several self-driving Tesla models, which he highlighted as being able to drive independently or without wheels. In a relatively fearless hoorah, he immediately included guests in these vehicles in an apparent bid to experience what he imagines as the future of transport.
Speaking at a conference devoted to AI and human progress, Musk said he believes self-driving cars will become the norm, claiming that it will help make cars much more efficient and ease traffic jams. In Musk’s analysis, the average vehicle is used 10 hours a week, which is 5.9 percent of the total time. Regarding self-driving capability, Musk said cars could be in use “five times or maybe ten times more” than they are today.
Musk emphasized the ‘value proposition of self-driving automobiles, saying that those who own cars will have their time back as they won’t have to drive the cars personally. “This is a huge deal,” he said, pointing at the ability to boost productivity and save time.
Elon Musk Promises Lower Costs, Increased Vehicle Safety
The CEO of Tesla also added that the expenditures on self-driving cars would be much lower than those on conventional vehicles, as low as $0.20 per mile compared to as high as $1 per mile. Musk agreed that this shift could eventually lead to cars becoming cheaper to consumers.
Musk argued that autonomous electric cars would be 10 times safer than those operating them. He said that because the most common cause of traffic accidents is human mistakes, self-driving vehicles would not have as many accidents and, thus, fewer injuries.
On the other hand, Craft Law Firm’s data established that since 2019, several (3,984) autonomous vehicle incidents have occurred in the U.S., and 1,064 of them, 53.9%, are associated with Teslas. Nevertheless, the number of incidents in which these fully driverless cars are involved falls significantly below the estimated 6 million car accidents recorded in the country every year.
In addition to the self-driving car, Musk has consistently supported cryptocurrency, especially the DOGE. Later, in 2022, Tesla added DOGE as one of the currencies to purchase Tesla merchandise, but it was made clear that they would not accept any merchandise bought using DOGE to be returned.
Earlier this year, during an event at Tesla’s Berlin Gigafactory in March, Musk once again signaled that the company’s cars might soon be available to purchase with Dogecoin.
Musk’s visionary goals for self-driving cars make it safe to assume that autonomous transportation will be inevitable as soon as Tesla reinvents itself to offer cutting-edge innovations. Whether or not his vision will be actualized or become the future as advertised remains to be seen.
