Tesla Robovan

Submission 305

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About

The Tesla Robovan refers to a concept car and upcoming Tesla vehicle called the Robovan that's advertised as an all-electric, self-driving van. The Robovan has a sci-fi aesthetic similar to the precursor Cybertruck. It looks like a windowless capsule with black and silver paneling. A real Tesla Robovan was unveiled at the October 2024 "We, Robot" event at Warner Bros. Studios in Los Angeles, California. CEO Elon Musk was present at the event. After the showcase of the vehicle, the Robovan sparked discourse around the internet and also became the subject of various memes.

History

In May 2017, Elon Musk's Boring Company released images of an all-electric self-driving van.^[1] Years later, on September 3rd, 2021, Musk's Tesla announced the "Robo Van" (later becoming stylized as "Robovan") in a company meeting.^[2]

Unveiling At 2024 "We, Robot" Event

On October 10th, 2024, the Tesla Robovan was officially unveiled at the "We, Robot" event at Warner Bros. Studios in Los Angeles, California.^[3]

A video of the Robovan driving around a corner at the event was shared by X^[4] user @teslaownersSV on October 10th, gaining over 1.8 million views and 24,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Tesla Robovan unveil The Future should look like the future @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/oGGiSjGIox

— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) October 11, 2024

Multiple other X^[5]^[6]^[7] users and accounts shared the abovementioned video on October 10th, 2024. The video also went viral on subreddits like /r/wallstreetbets.^[8]

During the event, a Tesla Bot was also unveiled. Viral videos of the robot at the event were shared on X^[9] and other social media alongside the self-driving concept car.

Also on October 10th, the official Tesla account on X^[11] shared images of the Robovan and the Robotaxi, which was also unveiled at the event (shown below).

Online Reaction

In mid-October 2024, viral reactions to the Robovan ensued online as the vehicle garnered attention. For instance, on October 11th, X^[10] user @dorseyshaw joked about it looking like a toaster, receiving over 1,000 likes in less than a day (shown below).

Viral criticism was also present in a post from X^[12] user @who_shot_jgr on October 11th, who joked about the design not being that unique. In less than a day, the post received over 8,800 likes (shown below).

Others humorously attacked Elon Musk, like X^[13] user @shaTIRED on October 11th, 2024, who quote tweeted the Robovan video, writing, "elon musk the only immigrant I want deported I’m ngl," gaining over 220,000 likes in less than a day (shown below).

Posts about the Robovan also surfaced on Reddit, like a non-viral post shared by Redditor^[14] Cuzzake to /r/siimkuusik on October 11th that joked about passengers experiencing a software bug (shown below).