Axios has a copy of a section of the Walter Isaacson biography of Elon Musk, which covers how the development and design of Robotaxi and next generation car. Elon was for a couple of years adamant about going to the robotaxi only and not wanting a cheap next generation car. Franz von Holzhausen and his team developed both the robotaxi and the next generation car. They put models of the robotaxi and the $25,000 car next to each other in the studio and showed Elon in early 2023. Elon finally became enthusiastic about both.
Above is a Tesla Cyber version of a Model Y by @teslacarsonly
TESLA MODEL CYBER Y, THOUGHTS? pic.twitter.com/MSRypyaL4A
— TESLA CARS ONLY FAMILY⚡ (@teslacarsonly) September 1, 2023
The next generation car will also now be developed in Austin first so that the designers will be near the production lines.
Both robotaxi and the $25,000 have a futuristic design like the Tesla Cybertruck — an angular, stainless steel pickup truck that had yet to debut.
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What’s with *every* production car having that daft crease down the side these days? About the only ones that don’t are the Mini and the MX-5.
I’d be much more interested in Elon’s plans if he wasn’t so hell-bent on autonomous cars. I will never set foot in a vehicle that drives itself. Even if I lost my ability to drive, I would support the livelihoods of HUMAN taxi or bus drivers.
Am I the only that things the “Cybertruck” is butt ugly?
It’s called “polarizing”. As in, it’s so different from your bog standard car, that some people will love it, and some will hate it. So no, you are not the only one, but what of it? Nobody expects everyone to buy the same model car.
Concept art looks good.
With the Cybertruck no longer being planned to have an exoskeleton body, I doubt we will see any other angular stainless steel models from Tesla.
I think most would see that as a good thing.
I’m hoping they can cyber compact pickup, Maverick sized. But the smaller cyber-like vehicle is probably a car. 🙁