Where to Park your Cybertruck (or other Robotaxi)

One thing I’ve been hearing a lot from people who are thinking about Cybertruck is concern over where to park it, or whether the large truck will fit in their garage. This is more of an issue for EVs than gas-powered cars, as having a charger where you park at night can make your life as an EV owner about a thousand times easier. Figuring out where to park, plug-in, and charge is one of the major issues holding up EV adoption worldwide.

Autonomous Charging Stations

The Cybertruck will ship in Late 2021 and Late 2022 at the earliest. By that time, Autopilot will be mature and likely approved for driverless operation in at least some places. It sounds crazy, but it’s probably true.

That means that no Cybertruck owner will really need to worry about parking or charging. Because so many people live in apartments and places where parking and charging are not readily available or under their control, there will be a big opportunity to operate autonomous charging stations.

How does it work? It’s simple:

Just have your car drop you off at home. After you grab anything you need from the trunk, your Tesla will automatically find a space to park and charge. It will drive to the nearest station of your choice where an attendant will direct it to an available charging bay or parking spot.

When you’re ready to leave for work the next morning, your car will arrive fully charged and ready to go –– whether you need to get picked up from home, a friend’s house, or Starbucks.

Come on. Seriously?

Sound crazy? Well, Autopilot is expected to be feature complete around the end of this year. I can tell you from using the software myself, they are not bullshitting here. I don’t know whether the Early Access release will come before the end of the year or not, but if it doesn’t it will ship in Q1 for sure.

That means that Autopilot will have all of 2020 and most of 2021 to mature in public release before the Cybertruck comes out. How long do you think it will take after initial release before at least someplace approves it for driverless operation? Two years? One year? Less?

By the time the 500-mile Cybertruck is released, it will have been almost 3 years since feature-complete Autopilot shipped in Early Access. Look at the progress Navigate on Autopilot made in a year. Imagine how much more progress the team can make given 3 more years. After that, we get Cybertruck.

Anyone who ordered a Cybertruck can safely assume it will arrive with full autonomy. Long story short, I wouldn’t worry about where you’re going to park it.

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