Tesla unveils Cybercab driverless model in 'We, Robot' event

Tesla unveiled a self-driving taxi during the electric car giant's "We, Robot" event Thursday night, paving the path for what CEO Elon Musk has bet will drive long-term growth for the electric vehicle maker.

The two-door models unveiled on the Warner Brothers lot in Burbank, California, had no steering wheels or gas and brake pedals and Musk promised the fully autonomous cars would be, "10 times safer than a human."

The much-hyped event saw 20 so-called Cybercabs and 30 autonomous Model Y cars. Musk said that he expected to begin fully unsupervised self-driving in California and Texas "next year" and that production for the Cybercab would begin in 2026, with the vehicles available for purchase for less than $30,000.

Tesla also revealed a Robovan and that it has made progress on the Optimus personal robot.

Musk pitched the autonomous technology as a way to reduce the need for parking in cities and as a way for drivers to reclaim their time.

The Cybercab was originally slated to be revealed in August but has been publicly touted by Musk since 2019. The announcement comes a week after Reuters reported on Musk's plans to create a Tesla-run autonomous ride service using vehicles owned by his customers when they are not otherwise in use.

Musk wanted to release robotaxis in 2020

In April 2019, Musk revealed that he expected Tesla robotaxis to be fully operating by 2020. The company predicted that each driverless vehicle would withstand 11 years and 1 million miles, earning Tesla $30,000 in annual profit.

Musk also shared that the cars would be accompanied by a ride-share app similar to both Uber and Airbnb. U.S. and Chinese regulators have currently only approved self-driving cars in limited and experimental instances on public roads.

The automotive company faces lawsuits and investigations related to crashes with its existing autopilot and Full Self-Driving driver-assistance systems, which the company has explained were the result of inattentive drivers.

Tesla missed delivery expectations

Tesla missed Wall Street's expectations when it released its third-quarter delivery report last week.

Elecktrek reported that the analyst consensus landed at 463,000 deliveries for the quarter while Tesla reported 462,890.

Model 3 and Model Y made up the vast majority of the deliveries with nearly 440,000 of the two models delivered in the quarter. Tesla delivered just under 23,000 of all other models combined.

(This story has been updated with new information.)

Contributing: Reuters