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Silver Lining: Musk Says A Smaller 40 kWh Pack And Liquid Silver Paint Are Coming To Cybercab
Elon Musk said efficiency gains will let Tesla shrink the Cybercab battery to 40 kWh, and that the robotaxi will also come in liquid silver.
Jordan Hale, Production
Published · 2 min read
Tesla's driverless two-seater is about to get lighter on batteries and brighter on the street. Elon Musk said on Saturday that efficiency improvements will let Tesla fit Cybercab with a 40 kWh battery pack, and that the company will also build the car in liquid silver.
"There are efficiency improvements coming that will allow for a 40kWh Cybercab pack. We will make this in liquid silver, so the colors are not too monotonous," Mr. Musk wrote on X. He did not give a date for either change.
The current car is already frugal. Sawyer Merritt, the Tesla investor who tracks the company closely, noted that Cybercab is rated at 6.18 miles per kWh and carries a 47.6 kWh pack today, so a 40 kWh battery would be about 16 percent smaller. He said the change would likely bring curb weight under 3,000 pounds, from 3,113 pounds now, and cut production costs further.
A smaller pack matters more for a robotaxi than for a family car. A fleet vehicle earns money by the mile, and every kilowatt-hour it does not carry is weight it does not haul and cost Tesla does not pay. Mr. Merritt also pointed to federal data showing that about 85 percent of ride-hailing trips carry only one or two passengers, the load Cybercab was designed around.
The paint news ends the all-gold era. Every Cybercab seen so far, from the Giga Texas outbound lot to the streets of Austin and the stands in Zürich and Shanghai, has worn the same gold finish. Mr. Musk's post promises a second colour for the fleet.
In the same thread Mr. Musk explained why the Cybertruck line is giving way. "If we have to maintain a complex production line, supply chain and allocate engineering for Cybertruck, we can't use those people or factory space and machinery for scaling Cybercab," he wrote. He added separately that the pickup's order backlog is larger than Tesla can build before the line is dismantled around June or July next year, and that Tesla will add an extra shift to fill as many orders as it can.
The message from Austin is consistent: fewer kilowatt-hours, more colours and more factory space, all pointed at one car.
We will make this in liquid silver, so the colors are not too monotonous.
About the Author
Jordan Hale
Jordan Hale reports on production, factory operations, and vehicle manufacturing for Cybercab News.
