- Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled the Cybercab, a futuristic autonomous taxi featuring a Shiba Inu inside one of the driverless cars capturing attention in the crypto community.
- Musk highlighted that the Cybercab’s operating costs are projected to be significantly lower than traditional transportation, with estimates of around 20 cents per mile.
Electric carmaker Tesla unveiled its latest futuristic vehicle and autonomous taxi Cybercab that seeks to bring affordable premium transportation to the masses. Interestingly during the demo, a Shiba Inu was spotted within the vehicle raising eyebrows within the crypto community.
Shiba Inu Finds a Spot in Tesla’s Cybercab
On Thursday, October 10, Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled the much-anticipated robotaxi at the “We, Robot” event in Los Angeles. Dubbed Cybercab, the two-door vehicle bears a huge resemblance to a compact version of Tesla’s Cybertruck.
Billionaire Musk made an entry by riding in one of the robotaxis, while 20 others moved autonomously on stage. Thus, Tesla demonstrated the technology’s ability to function without human control. The Cybercab stands for its minimalistic design without a steering wheel and pedal. It seats two passengers and relies entirely on artificial intelligence and cameras for navigation, avoiding the additional hardware seen in some competing robotaxi models.
However, one light-hearted moment during the event was when a Shiba Inu appeared inside one of the driverless cars, happily enjoying the ride without any human assistance. The official Dogecoin handle on the X platform spotted this, asking Elon Musk to confirm whether it was indeed a Shiba Inu inside the robotaxi. Well, this was enough to trigger some spark within the crypto community.
Hey @elonmusk is that a Shiba Inur taxi? pic.twitter.com/ihfktgc4ds
— Dogecoin (@dogecoin) October 11, 2024
Elon Musk is popular for his support for Dogecoin (DOGE) in the past and has been tweeting about the same for a while. Last month he teased DOGE for the Department of Government Efficiency, which he proposed for the Donald Trump government, reported CNF. His “Dogefather” remarks triggered investor interest in the dog-themed cryptocurrency.
On the other hand, Elon Musk has been actively supporting Donald Trump as President for the upcoming presidential elections. This led to a major surge in the Trump-themed meme coin MAGA, per the CNF report.
More Details About Autonomous Taxi
By introducing the Cybercab autonomous taxi, Elon Musk is advancing the concept of autonomous transportation while offering premium point-to-point travel without a driver at an affordable price. Interestingly, he also indicated that the cost of the product would be low enough for people to view it as individualized mass transit.
He compared the average urban bus fare, which is around $1 per mile, to the anticipated operating cost of the Tesla Cybercab, projected at approximately 20 cents per mile. When factoring in taxes and fees, the total cost is expected to fall between 30 to 40 cents per mile. Musk assured that the vehicle would be budget-friendly, aiming for a launch price under $30,000.
Coming to the timeline of launch, Musk stated that Tesla would roll out the fully autonomous unsupervised Full Self-Driving (FSD) capabilities in Texas and California next year, specifically for its Model Y and Model 3. He also shared an optimistic outlook for the Cybercab, suggesting production could commence around 2026 or possibly even sooner.
This begs the question of whether Musk will integrate Dogecoin (DOGE) as part of its payment system in autonomous taxis.
