Is the Robovan Tesla’s real genius idea?

The Robovan, an Art Deco autonomous vehicle, is ultimately the only major surprise of this Gala evening organized by Tesla.

Tesla had announced the theme with the name of its grand presentation “We, Robot”. We finally met the Robotaxi and learned that the humanoid robot Optimus can change a tire and dance. But nothing prepared us for this Robovan, which may herald the true shared mobility of tomorrow, or even mobility in general. The Robotaxi is great, but a two-seater car, whether autonomous or not, will never solve the mobility issues of the majority of the population. 20 seats and virtually infinite modularity is definitely much better, right?

The creation of a fleet of autonomous vehicles for carpooling, the famous Tesla Network, has been Elon Musk’s battle horse for many years. All of the visionary entrepreneur’s efforts to deploy his autonomous vehicles as quickly as possible are not solely aimed at satisfying a clientele in search of technological feats. Well, a little bit because cars still need to be sold, but not just that.

Think bigger!

If we limit ourselves to shared use only, it is much easier to develop a vehicle designed to operate autonomously in a defined space than to program the artificial intelligence of a car to navigate anywhere at the will of its driver. Thus, an autonomous vehicle can receive very precise mapping of an urban area and operate without problem at reduced speed. This applies as much to a two-seater taxi as it does to a 20-seater shuttle. So why limit ourselves?

But once fully operational autonomous driving is achieved, we could even make this Robovan an ultra-luxurious private vehicle thanks to its spacious interior!

In the available illustrations, we can see the Robovan taking on the role of a school transport vehicle, a mobile shop, a luxury limousine, or a family minivan. With its look straight out of the Judge Dredd universe or The Fifth Element, we can imagine it replacing city buses or parked in front of the home of an American family ready to head out on an excursion in a national park. If we’re not driving, we might as well have maximum comfort and living space, don’t you think? Finally, this Robovan raises an essential question. Should an autonomous car resemble a car?

ALSO READ: 30,000 dollars without a steering wheel or pedals, here is the Tesla Robotaxi