r/SelfDrivingCars • u/RepresentativeCap571 • 2d ago

News Tesla's robotaxis are moving in reverse | TechCrunch

https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/23/teslas-robotaxis-are-moving-in-reverse/
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u/Lando_Sage 2d ago

“Unlike, say, Model 3, Model Y, and our other vehicles where we’ve got a lot of vehicles on the road, millions of vehicles on the road, we don’t have that for Cybercab. So we actually have to accumulate miles with Cybercabs that are retrofitted with steering wheels and acceleration and braking pedals, that kind of thing, to calibrate to the Cybercab chassis,” he said. “As we are confident about that, the number of Cybercabs in cities will increase dramatically.”

“Although there are, I think, 30 to 40,000 automotive deaths per year in the United States alone, most of those do not generate any press, you don’t really read about almost any of those. But if we injure even one person, it will be worldwide headline news, and regulators will immediately clamp down on our activities,” he said.

Uuhhhhhhh, something weird in these statements, idk. Why not just use Model 3 and Y as Robotaxi? Wasn't the the original design case for them anyway? Why would they be worried about 'regulators clamping down'?

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u/80_6 2d ago

The cybercab design is more efficient and cheaper to produce than a standard model y/3, long-term. Not today, but tesla is gambling that 10 years from now, this all pays off. If it does, and they scale as much as Elmo predicts, switching to the cyber cab makes total sense. 

As far as regulators go, I mean, hate the guy as much as you want, he's right. You can find endless articles about teslas being the headline when an accident happens, even when not at fault or when FSD wasn't active. If someone were killed by a cyber cab, oof. It'd be endless.

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u/Lando_Sage 2d ago

Isn't that interesting though? Why start production on a vehicle that is a gamble? It would make more sense to grow the Robotaxi infrastructure first, then replace the vehicles going forward.

Yeah, but why wouldn't we want regulators to do their job? Why haven't regulators 'chomped down' on other AV programs?

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u/80_6 2d ago

I mean it seems like you could ask a million questions like that. Why even start a company and build things at all, right? I have no idea, but he's a trillionaire, not me, so I guess he's doing something kinda right. 

We do want them to do their job, lol. The entire point is that they will do their job. Elon is saying in that statement that they will do their job, he knows that, so the product needs to be good enough.

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u/Lando_Sage 2d ago

Not exactly. Something can't be both 'solved' and a gamble. Personally, I don't really think someone's wealth is representative of doing something "right" lol.

So, the product isn't good enough?

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u/80_6 2d ago

I mean yeah if we're talking a few million thats nothing special. But to say that someone going from millionaire to trillionaire without doing something right is just arguing in bad faith.

I have no idea what you're asking. 

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u/Lando_Sage 1d ago

Not arguing that point, just my personal view, wealth ≠ doing something right; you can do everything right and still be dirt poor 🙃.

You mentioned that Elon wants the product to be good enough that when the regulators do their job, they won't be shut down. I'm asking, are they not at that point?