Matthew Donegan-Ryan
Elon Musk showed off Tesla's robotaxi on Thursday night — and one of the first people to ride it told Business Insider what it was like to take a trip in the so-called Cybercab.
Tesla fan and investor Matthew Donegan-Ryan attended the glitzy launch on a film lot at the Warner Bros. Studio in Burbank, California, and said he was impressed by the ease with which the Cybercab dealt with obstacles.
He described it as "much smoother" and less jerky than the latest version of Tesla's Full Self-Driving assisted driving software.
The Cybercab, Tesla's first robotaxi, was revealed alongside a 20-person Robovan. It will have no steering wheel or pedals and will charge via wireless inductive charging.
Musk heralded the futuristic vehicle as a step toward an "age of abundance," but the launch left Tesla facing questions over regulatory scrutiny and how exactly its attempt to challenge Uber with a ride-hailing business will work.
Donegan-Ryan said the Cybercab was smaller than Tesla's Model 3 and had three buttons inside — one to turn on the inside lights and two to raise the door windows.
The only thing on the dashboard was a giant screen, on which attendees could select one of several destinations within Warner Bros. lot.
When the ride began, the Cybercab frequently encountered obstacles like cyclists and bystanders crossing the road, but Donegan-Ryan said the vehicle dealt with them smoothly.
"I was pleasantly surprised," he said. "The cars reacted flawlessly to them, and all took slightly different paths. It was kind of like watching a Formula 1 race."
Donegan-Ryan was also surprised by how few cameras the Cybercab had.
He said the robotaxi, which depends on computer vision to run its self-driving tech, appeared to have the same camera layout as a Model Y or 3. He said that he only saw one additional camera on the front bumper.
The Cybercab bears a stylistic resemblance to another Tesla vehicle, the Cybertruck, and Donegan-Ryan said that similarity was particularly apparent in person.
"All the Cybercabs that were on display were wrapped in a titanium stealth wrap. If you felt the edges and the curves, it felt just like a Cybertruck," he said.
The event was a glitzy affair, with drone light shows, pumping music, and Tesla's humanoid Optimus robots serving drinks. It's unclear whether these robots were human-assisted. When contacted by BI, Tesla did not respond to a request for comment on this point.
Donegan-Ryan said it had a festival atmosphere.
"There were many staff at the event, and they had a real sense of euphoria. They were all universally excited and pumped up," he said.
Tesla
Staff were apparently mingling freely with the crowd. Donegan-Ryan told Business Insider that he spoke to Tesla's chief designer, Franz von Holzhausen, and its VP, Lars Moravy — and that both told him Tesla had no plans to release a version of the Cybercab with a steering wheel.
Ultimately, Donegan-Ryan came away impressed. He told BI that, while he wouldn't buy a two-seater Cybercab as he had three kids, he would consider one for his parents.
During the unveiling, Musk also said that the company intends to allow Tesla vehicle owners to rent Cybercabs out when they're not using them to be part of Tesla's ride-hailing network.
Donegan-Ryan said he might consider owning a Cybercab "to operate it in the fleet, as a revenue generator."
Tesla
The unveiling of Tesla's Robovan and Cybercab, which Musk said would cost less than $30,000 and go into production before 2027, failed to impress everyone.
Some Wall Street analysts expressed disquiet over the lack of details on Tesla's business model and the absence of the more affordable EV the company is planning to ship next year, and Tesla's shares slumped as much as 10% in early trading on Friday.
"We believe last night will mark the inflection point from Tesla as an EV maker to a broader AI/Robotics/Disruptive Tech mobility player," said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note.
"That said, we strongly disagree with the notion that last night was a disappointment as we would argue the opposite seeing Cybercab with our own eyes and the massive improvements in Optimus which we interacted with throughout the evening," he added.
