The Cybercab is Tesla’s next big thing. Well, the vehicle that is currently known as the Cybercab is, but the name might change.
During Tesla’s most recent earnings call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk predicted that the fully autonomous two-seat car will one day outsell all of the company’s other models. Its design is optimized for use in Tesla’s gestating Robotaxi service and it will likely be the most energy-efficient vehicle ever when production begins in April.
The early cars will be owned and operated by Tesla, but Musk envisions a future where customers will buy them and loan them to the Robotaxi service when they don’t need them for themselves, which could potentially allow them to make enough money to pay for the cars plus a profit. The Model Y, Model 3 and Cybertruck will also be compatible with the ride-hailing scheme. Musk also announced during the call that the Model S and Model X will be discontinued in the coming weeks.
Musk has also addressed the confusion between the Robotaxi and Cybercab names, clarifying that the former applies to the service and the latter to the specific car. At least for now.
Tesla has run into a few issues with both names. It was denied a trademark on Robotaxi, because it was deemed too generic, while another company beat it to the Cybercab trademark, filing for it after Tesla announced the model, but before putting in its own paperwork for the name. This lead to Tesla’s application being suspended. There’s also another problem.
“In some states, we’re not allowed to use the word cab or taxi, so it’s going to get even more strange,” Musk said. “It’s going to be like Cybervehicle or something Cybercar.”
Electrek reported that Tesla filed for trademarks on Cybervehicle and Cybercar immediately after the earnings call to avoid the same sort of trouble it ran into with Cybercab.
It still has a few weeks to sort things out and perhaps even longer, as it hasn’t confirmed an exact date for when it will begin selling the “Cybercab” to the public. Tesla has another new model on the way with a familiar name, but it was sorted out a long time ago.
The company is expected to reveal the production version of its second-generation Roadster sports car on April 1, although it won’t actually go on sale until sometime in 2027, a full 10 years after the original concept debuted in 2017.
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Roadster is an even older generic term than Robotaxi, but Tesla does hold a trademark for the name Tesla Roadster, which was granted to it in 2007, just before the first generation Roadster went on sale in February 2008 as the company’s first model.
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