New Tesla Cybercab makes its UK debut – a close-up with the new autonomous EV
November 20, 2024 by Jamie Edkins
Car changing is a big deal
The new Tesla Cybercab is on display in London until 8 December, but it’ll be a while longer before you see it hit the streets.
- New Tesla Cybercab on display in London
- Opportunity to see new self-driving car in the metal
- Futuristic interior design
- No manual controls inside
- Owners will be able to make money from their cars
- Expected to go on sale in 2026
The new Tesla Cybercab has landed in the UK, sort of. A prototype model is currently on display in a shopping centre in London, where it’ll stay until 8 December. You can’t get in or touch the car, but this is your first up-close look at the design and interior.
This self-driving electric car caused quite a stir when it was launched a few months ago, with Elon Musk touting it as the future of public transport. You’ll be able to buy one in 2026 if you live in the United States, where it’s set to cost from less than $30,000, or £23,000.
Carwow gets up close with the new Tesla Cybercab
Tesla’s store in Westfield Shopping Centre, Shepherd’s Bush, currently has a new Cybercab on display for you to come and gawk at. It’s just a prototype model, meaning you can’t sit in or experience the car, but it does give you the chance to see the car up close.
The design is pretty unusual, but perhaps not as out-there as the Verne Robotaxi. The teardrop shape could put you in mind of the original Honda Insight from the ‘90s, however the front end looks thoroughly modern with its Cybertruck-esque light bar and lack of any grilles or vents.
Those gullwing doors are a talking point as well. They were fixed in the up position for our visit, but it’s unclear if they will make it to the final production car.
Moving to the rear you have a full-width light bar, and not a lot else. There aren’t even any Tesla badges on this car.
New Tesla Cybercab interior
That minimalism is carried over to the interior as well. This is a fully autonomous car, and as such it doesn’t have a steering wheel or pedals. You just get a giant screen in the middle which you can use to watch movies or join video calls, and that’s about your lot.
It seems a bit more cocooned than the Verne Robotaxi. That car has a vast glass area to get in loads of light so you feel immersed in what’s going on around you, while the Cybercab seems to be more about separating you from the outside world so you can just relax on the way to your destination – an introvert’s dream.
New Tesla Cybercab – how does it work?
You can think of the Tesla Cybercab as being like an Uber without the awkward small talk. In theory, you’ll be able to order a Cybercab from an app on your phone and it’ll just turn up at your location and take you to wherever you need to go.
Unlike the Verne Robotaxi, these won’t just be run in fleets by local authorities either. Musk says you’ll be able to buy one in the US from 2026 and use it as your personal car, as well as rent it out when you’re not using it to make some extra cash.
The car uses a suite of cameras and sensors to keep an eye on what’s going on around you, and it uses data from thousands of cars completing millions of trips to get safer over time. This is mostly based on Tesla’s artificial intelligence tech rather than just hardware, making it both cheap to produce and easy to update.
There’s good news for Model 3 and Model Y owners as well, because this full self-driving technology will soon be made available in these cars via an over-the-air update and you’ll be able to rent your car out, just like the Cybercab. Musk has said this will be available from next year.
New Tesla Cybercab – when can I buy one?
That’s a tricky question if you live here in the UK. Musk has said that the Cybercab will go on sale in the USA from 2026, however he even admits that he can be optimistic when it comes to time frames. Back in 2019 he said that there would be a million robotaxis on the road by 2020.
Self-driving car laws across the pond are also more advanced than they are here. Large cities in California already have self-driving taxis ferrying people around, something we’re a long way off seeing on UK roads. It could be closer to the end of the decade before the Cybercab goes on sale here.
New Tesla Robovan also revealed
Along with the new Cybercab, Tesla has also unveiled the Robovan. It’s essentially a futuristic-looking minibus which works on the same principle as the Cybercab. You’ll be able to hail it from your phone, only this can carry up to 20 people.
The Robovan can also be used to carry cargo across cities, and it looks totally bonkers. Elon Musk said that it will look like this when it goes into production, and if the Cybertruck is anything to go on then we have no reason to doubt this.
The triple light bars at the front and rear are like nothing we’ve seen from Tesla before, and this van actually has no windscreen which is also a first. Inside you have some comfy-looking seats which face each other, and you can bet that there’ll be plenty of screens to keep the whole crew entertained on their journey.
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