Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk has backed the Cybercab ahead of its launch event in Austin, Texas, as the EV maker looks to expand its Robotaxi network.
A Storm Of Cybercabs
In a post on X in the early hours of Thursday, Musk touted the event. “A Storm of Cybercabs,” he said in his post.
In a separate post, the Tesla CEO shared a meme showcasing a Sandstorm engulfing the city, with the sandstorm being the Cybercab and the city being Austin.
Musk Touts Operational Efficiency
On Tuesday, user Nic Cruz Patane took to X and showcased the difference in costs between an Alphabet Inc.-backed (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) Waymo‘s sixth-generation Ojai robotaxi manufactured by Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd.‘s (OTC:GELYF) (OTC:GELHY) EV brand Zeekr.
“This is what $1 million worth of Tesla Cybercabs vs. $1 million worth of Gen 6 Waymos looks like,” Patane said, sharing an image of a handful of Waymo vehicles vs. several Tesla Cybercabs.
The image showed that the estimated cost of a Waymo Robotaxi was $125,000/unit, according to Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), while a Cybercab cost $18,000, per ARK Invest calculations. Musk had earlier confirmed that the Cybercab would retail for around $30,000.
Musk responded to Patane’s post. “And this doesn’t even take into account the operational efficiency of Cybercab,” he said, without providing any other details.
For reference, Tesla’s VP of Engineering, Lars Moravy, had earlier said that the Cybercab had an energy consumption figure of 165 Wh/mi and features a 48 kWh battery.
Ross Gerber Backs Cybercab
Investor Ross Gerber of Gerber Kawasaki earlier backed the Cybercab as the first-ever “physical AI EV” and said that it would be “very interesting” to see how the rollout plays out. He also said that a good thing about the Cybercab was its attractive design, which was better than Waymo vehicles.
Price Action: TSLA shares were up 0.85% to $360.04 during pre-market trading on Thursday.
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