The tires are--well--there aren't any tires. The rims are a few centimeters from the wheel wells. There is not a city in the world where this vehicle could travel more than a block.

...also doubles as a see-saw for the kids when it gets stuck going over a speed-bump.

They will be confined to an area of the city that has specially prepared wooden roadway, along with a charging infrastructure consisting of an overhead wire grid where that cars will charge via an advanced metal rod.

The production design will have large plastic bumpers in case of collisions with other cars

I think that picture is actually depicting multi-coloured tires, like old fashioned whitewall tires where the sides are a different colour. I could see Tesla selling a car that requires proprietary Tesla tires.

It could be, but the suspension travel still looks negligible. The mini bus thing wouldn't handle speed ramps at all.

If Tesla could make a cheap car they would already be doing it.

Also, wireless charging is horrendously inefficient and the final version of the Robotaxi, if it's ever released, won't do it.

Wireless EV charging has been in development for some time and its not inefficient.

https://uk.pcmag.com/cars-auto/152014/wireless-ev-charging-is-coming-heres-how-it-works

WiTricity works at up to 11kW and a supercharger works at 250kW... So why can't they make it work at 250kW? It doesn't scale.

If the point was to have a fleet of taxis continually in service, wireless charging won't do it. The taxis are going to be recharging for 8 hours at a time or constantly finding a wireless charger between jobs in which case the fleet will have to be bigger to accommodate charging taxis.

The only way wifi could work would be for all taxi ranks to be a long line of charge points* but even that will fail when the rank gets busy and cars spend only a few mins in the line.

A large autonomous taxi fleet of identical vehicles has to be a prime contender for swappable battery packs, the minibus model is surely meant to be the taxi?.

*powered from where?

"One of WiTricity's biggest challenges is fighting the misconception that wireless charging is less efficient than corded. "People say, oh if I charge my phone wirelessly it takes longer, but that's not the case here," she says. "So, we are constantly educating people that they don't have to make a compromise when they go wireless.""

So their metric for efficiency is time, not power in vs power out.

https://www.techspot.com/news/86271-wireless-charging-has-efficiency-issue.html

"Charging from completely dead to 100 percent with a cable used an average of 14.26 watt-hours (Wh). With a flat Yootech wireless charger, Ravenscraft said a full recharge consumed around 21.01 Wh on average, or more than 47 percent more energy."

"Results were a little better with Google's official Pixel Stand charger, as it eliminates the possibility of vertically misaligning the phone during charging. In testing, the Pixel 4 consumed an average of 19.8 Wh. Still, that's nearly 39 percent more power versus using a charging cable."

It is simple physics, the worse the coupling between the two sides of the transformer the worse the efficiency.

Not only that, but you have to lug around the secondary winding of a 10kVA (just for Granny charger speeds) air cored transformer... That is not going to be an insignificant size / weight. And presumably both windings are made of Copper? That's a scarce resource these days

> and its not inefficient.

Yes it is, for a very simple reason: Physics.

It doesn't matter how you wirelessly transmit energy, the losses will ALWAYS be a lot higher than letting electrons bumb together in a piece of metal. Again, that isn't me saying that, it's physics saying that.

So you either use A LOT more energy to reach the same charging speeds, or you charge A LOT slower. Both options suck for widespread adoption. The former will make already struggling electrical grids even less capable of coping, the latter is simply unacceptable for consumers. Keep in mind: Any charging technology is not just up against other charging technologies...it also is up against gas pumps, which put a car from zero to full energy within less than a minute.

Agreed.

It's time to post [1]this link again.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOVg62_DUYU

I think wireless charging for buses, etc. has been going on in China for years. With large coils I think the efficiency isn't that bad and it means vehicles just have to line up approximately. But then China can decree that the necessary infrastructure is built.

But I think we may soon see Tesla overtaken on at least two sides by cheaper and better vehicles that no tariffs will stop, and the embryonic "full-hybrid" market.

It uses about 40% more power but that doesn't matter when you have practically free coal power.

and a nuke/wind/hydro building program about as big as the rest of the planet.

I think wireless charging for buses, etc. has been going on in China for year

Was happening in the UK a decade ago. They had wireless top ups at the bus stops at the end of the route, and a full charge with a cable overnight.

https://www.intelligenttransport.com/transport-articles/13992/wirelessly-charged-electric-buses-in-milton-keynes/

I agree. We will soon see customers rioting when their Muckmobile refuses to take them to their destination because there is zero wireless charging in that area.

While I like the idea of inductive/wireless charging there is zero infrastructure out there. At least with early EV's you could plug them into the domestic power supply and get a charge allbeit, a very slow one.

The early cars MUST have both wireless and a plug at least until the infrastructure is built out.

Then there are those doors... WTF are they thinking. Didn't Tesla learn enough from the Model X doors?

If Tesla could make a cheap car they would already be doing it.

They are already doing it, just not for a cheap price.

It's clearly a Toaster!

More seriously, a 2 seater Taxi? The pics I've seen of the interior, don't look like there's a lot of space in there, and whilst the Boot looks pretty big, how does that work on an Autonomous taxi? Anyone can open the boot? Bye bye luggage...

Even the BBC's usual gushing commentary over anything Tesla related was rather muted this time. Is it possible that the world is finally moving on from Elon's excretions?

With wireless charging, if something goes wrong, it could be a microwave oven.

or TDS... Trump devotee syndrome.

When Trump gets elected and Elon joins his cabinet, he won't have time to do anything at Tesla, SpaceX or Starlink.

Trumpo will demand total devotion (along with the licking of his shoes, complete with lifts) from Elon.

PEhaps... (ok, maybe not) Tesla can escape Elon's madness and bring out a Model 2 for the masses.

Anyway, this robotaxi will fail miserably on the UK's pothole ridden roads with those tyres.

Would you like some toast?

Doesn't do well on salted roads in the winter.

May eat your hedge.

Antennae for Starlink optional.

The cheapest Tesla comes in at $39,000. So if you only want one to run around town in, it would be cheaper to buy yourself one of these taxis. You'd also be able to go to sleep on the way to work in it. And get drunk on the way home.

But who's going to buy one? The whole proposition is a Teslataxi. It'll need Tesla software to drive itself, Tesla software for people to order rides, it'll be deeply embedded into Tesla, charging, servicing and maintenance. They presumably aren't planning on selling any to Waymo or the like.

I can see larger taxi outfits might hope they can take a fleet and get rid of their existing drivers, but they'd be purchasing a vehicle yet outsourcing every aspect of their business to Elmo even down to fuel. The only thing the taxi firm would be responsible for would be cleaning the thing, and carrying all of the commercial and operational risk.

Worth also thinking about the payments structure. Tesla might sell the vehicle, they aren't going to be providing operators with customers for free, and they aren't going to be offering the self-driving for free. If you bought one as a personal vehicle it'll likely come with a requirement to use the Tesla ride-hailing app ($), to pay either for the self driving for that route or a cut of the fare ($), and probably minimum mileage commitments against maintenance and those operational charges.

and when you're not using it, it'll probably go off and be a taxi for other people. You may get a share of the fare, but what state will the inside of "your" car be in when you get it back?

and when you're not using it, it'll probably go off and be a taxi for other people. You may get a share of the fare, but what state will the inside of "your" car be in when you get it back?

That is literally Musk's pitch - if you buy one, you can opt in for it to do ride-share/taxi work ("Uber") when you're not using it, with a lofty prediction that monthly income will exceed monthly payments on the car.

Now, this is not - in theory - a bad thing. Most cars spend 23hours/day parked. Fewer cars overall (since some won't buy at all), fewer parked on the streets (although who is responsible for charging?).

As usual though, regulatory niceties like licensing (as a minicab firm), business insurance and so on are not something Musk worries about too much.

The latest stock pump. If they can't even get autonomous driving to work in the very controlled environment of Vegas Loop, what chance to they have on the open road.

If it's a stock pump, it's not working very well. The stock dropped 7% today.

How are you getting in to this thing if you have anything other than great mobility ? Never mind wheelchair users, even someone with bad hips or a dodgy knee is going to struggle getting in or out of this.

And, as others have said, if this hits any of the promised marks (under $30k, production by 2026, on the road by 2027....) I will not only eat my hat but Elon's too.

...mean that as soon as you are in a ten yards radius from the car, your credit card would be instantly debited and your bank account, emptied?

How else do you expect them to make a profit?

This. And that its passengers will be drained of energy to charge the vehicle.

Thinking of it, I'll drop that in the "news" channel of my batshit crazy conspirationalised acquaintances and see how it evolves...

Reading this article reassures me that my job as a taxi driver will be secure at least until I decide to retire. Probably better than 90% of my customers wouldn't be caught dead riding in one. Plus, they wouldn't be a captive audience for my sparkling wit and endless recounting of my sordid sex life.

I suddenly see why the owner of Twitter thought taxi driver was an obvious next product

I have zero faith in Elon's promises of either functionality, delivery time or price. As evidence, I offer all previous Tesla cars.

Compared to my own creation of the largest EV company from (almost) scratch his efforts are, of course, laughable

Is there no beginning to his talents?

It's worth noting that the big achievements of both of the companies he's been involved with, the Model 3 and Falcon rockets, were both due to the hard work and insights of people who've since left those companies.

Since then, Elon has gone on a number of fantasy quests that have produced.. at best... suboptimal designs that have arrived late, massively overpriced, unreliable or not at all.

He's even managed to take the massive technical lead and trillion dollar valuation of Tesla and loose the leadership to latecomers like BYD. The whole reason he's pivoted to taxis is that the guy who claimed he knew more about manufacturing than anyone else on the planet cannot make the affordable car he promised while other companies apparently can.

Sorry, it is his boss Trump who knows more about everything on the planet than anyone else. Or... at least that is what Trump claims.

Well, Trump IS a stable genius? Right? Who are you to argue with such as he?

The latecomer BYD was established just months before Tesla.

Latecomer in terms of the industry, compared to the likes of Ford etc.

Then Tesla is an even later comer.

Just like his "success" with Paypal:

[1]every.to/p/twitter-s-future-is-a-return-to-elon-musk-s-past

It's almost as if there's a pattern forming here....

[1] https://every.to/p/twitter-s-future-is-a-return-to-elon-musk-s-past

Thinking about the less salubrious neighbourhoods that every nation has, I'd imagine that the advent of self driving taxis will be a welcome opportunity to throw things at them. Sometimes happens with real taxis, but there's always the risk the taxi driver stops, gets out and turns out to be either bigger or more psychopathic than expected. Or returns with a gang of his mates.

With a Robotaxi, the victims/passengers have little control, and less propensity to fight for somebody else's property. It could become a new pastime, throwing stuff at them, hurling stuff in front to force amusing swerves or emergency stops, even trying to box it into situations it can drive into but not out of. The possibilities for anti-social amusement are endless.

Of course antisocial behavior is always possible, but let's not forget that these come with dozens of cameras filming nonstop. People who thought attacking self-driving cars was easy game generally got the visit of the nice people in blue.

Do, have they worked out yet who’s liable to pay up when it kills someone?

Who's to pay? Why the passenger of course. It says that quite clearly in footnote 7 on page 43 of the 119 page terms and conditions document the passenger must agree to before the vehicle will go anywhere.

That is all.