POWERRRRR! No, wait, that's not right. BATTERIES! And ROBOTS! And Elon Musk making promises that may or may not be kept on a timeline that may or may not exist in our dimension of reality. It seems that Tesla's much-hyped Cybercab robotaxi, which Musk promised would start production "as soon as next year" (a phrase that in Musk-speak can mean anything from "actually next year" to "sometime before the heat death of the universe"), might actually be more than just a rendered fever dream presented at a flashy event. Shocking, I know. Drone photographer Joe Tegtmeyer, who apparently has nothing better to do than fly small aircraft over Tesla's facilities near Austin, Texas, recently captured images of pallets loaded with metal structural parts that appear to be made using Tesla's vaunted Gigacasting process. And according to internet sleuths with far too much time on their hands, these aren't parts for any of Tesla's current models. Luca Greco, an X user who I can only assume lists "Gigacasting expert" on his dating profiles, analyzed the photos and concluded they might be for the Cybercab. His evidence? Some of the storage racks are labeled "RTTX," which he believes stands for "RoboTaxi Texas." It's either that or "Really Tiny Tesla Xenomorphs," but the former seems more likely. Gigacasting: how to make a car like you're pouring a very expensive pint For those of you who aren't terminally online Tesla enthusiasts, Gigacasting is a manufacturing process that Tesla has pioneered, where instead of assembling vehicle structures from hundreds of smaller parts, they simply cast massive sections as single pieces. It's like making a car the way you'd make an ice sculpture, if ice sculptures were made of aluminum and cost tens of thousands of dollars. Tesla already uses this approach on the Cybertruck and Model Y, creating enormous single-piece castings for components like the floor, front, and rear subframes. The benefits are numerous - fewer parts to assemble, lower weight, better structural integrity, and fewer robots needed on the assembly line (though this last point might be ironic for a robotaxi). The process has been so successful that other automakers like Nissan and Volvo are now scrambling to implement similar technology in their upcoming electric vehicles. It's a rare instance of Tesla actually delivering on a manufacturing innovation that genuinely advances the industry, rather than just making cars in a tent or designing door handles that confuse emergency services. From promise to production: is this actually happening? If these parts really are for the Cybercab, it would represent a significant milestone for Tesla. The company unveiled the futuristic-looking, two-seater Cybercab at an event in October 2024, with Musk claiming it would cost less than $30,000 and begin production in 2026. At the same event, Musk also showed a larger vehicle called the Robovan, designed to transport up to 20 passengers. Both vehicles are supposedly being designed without a steering wheel or pedals, which seems optimistic given that Tesla's "Full Self-Driving" technology still requires constant human supervision and has a tendency to get confused by shadows, paper bags, and the concept of turning left. But perhaps by the time these vehicles hit the road, the technology will have improved. Or perhaps not. It's Tesla, so it's a coin toss at best. What's particularly interesting about this development is that Tesla appears to be moving forward with the Cybercab before completing other long-promised vehicles like the new Roadster, which was unveiled in 2017 with a claimed production date of 2020. Five years later, and the only Roadsters in existence are the prototypes and the one Musk launched into space, which I'm pretty sure doesn't count as a customer delivery. This suggests that Tesla might be pivoting its strategy, focusing more on autonomous transport solutions rather than high-performance vehicles. Or perhaps Musk just got bored with the Roadster and decided robotaxis were the new shiny object worth pursuing. With Musk, it's impossible to tell the difference between strategic genius and "oh look, a squirrel!" So while we should take this news with several metric tons of salt, it does seem that Tesla is putting actual resources behind the Cybercab and Robovan concepts. Whether they'll arrive on the promised timeline, with the promised features, at the promised price point is another matter entirely. Tesla has a long history of overpromising and underdelivering on timelines, though the company usually gets there in the end, even if "the end" is several years after the initially announced date. One thing's for certain: with the rise of Chinese EV makers, increased competition from traditional automakers, and the specter of tariffs looming over the industry, Tesla needs new products to maintain its market position. If the company can actually deliver a functional, affordable robotaxi before its competitors, it could open up entirely new revenue streams and business models. But that's a big "if." And in the meantime, thousands of Roadster reservation holders continue to wait patiently for their cars, some having put down $250,000 deposits seven years ago. Perhaps they should have invested that money in drone photography equipment instead - at least then they'd have something to show for it.
