The Robovan is a 20-seat electric bus powered by the company’s Full Self-Driving software, without a steering wheel or pedals – but it is unclear when it will hit showrooms.
Tesla has revealed its largest passenger-carrying vehicle – an autonomous electric bus known as the Robovan – with futuristic styling unlike anything else on the road.
The US car giant says the Robovan will eventually go into production, but it is unclear when it will hit the road.
A concept of the bus was unveiled alongside the Cybercab, a small two-seat autonomous ‘robotaxi’ due to launch in the US in 2026 – and a newer version of Tesla’s in-development ‘Optimus’ humanoid robot.
MORE: Tesla Cybercab autonomous electric robotaxi revealed
Both vehicles – the Cybercab and Robovan – will be driven by the next iteration of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software, powered exclusively by cameras, rather than the expensive lidar sensors chosen by rival autonomous-car makers.
The current version of so-called ‘Full Self-Driving’ requires an attentive driver behind the wheel – ready to take over from the car at any time.
From 2025, Tesla CEO Elon Musk claims this will no longer be required, with the launch of an ‘unsupervised’ update available first in the current Model 3 and Model Y on roads in Texas and California, ahead of the Cybercab’s planned 2026 introduction.
A global expansion of Full Self-Driving is promised, but given the supervised version of the system is not available outside North America, it could be a number of years before the unsupervised technology launches in Australia and Europe.
Few technical details of the Tesla bus have been announced, but Musk said it will seat 20 people – or can be used for carrying goods.
Photos released by Tesla show a hyper-futuristic exterior design, with five-stripe lights front and rear, no windscreen, and a sliding glass side door.
The concept vehicle shown by Tesla in the US this afternoon (Australian time) was a 14-seater, with four rows of white-upholstered seats, and screens on both ends of the cabin.
“What happens if you need a [driverless] vehicle that’s bigger than a Model Y? The Robovan … we’re going to make this, and it’s going to look like that,” Musk said at the reveal of the bus.
“Can you imagine going down the streets and you see this coming towards you? That would be sick.”
Musk estimated the Robovan would cost five to 10 US cents per mile (1.6km) to run – compared to $US1 for a conventional bus.
“One of the things we want to do, and you’ve seen this with the Cybertruck, is we want to change the look of the roads. The future should look like the future.”
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