A recent social media exchange involving Tesla’s Director of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, and YCombinator CEO Garry Tan suggests that Tesla is actively working on the Robovan.
During the Q3 2025 Earnings Call, Tesla’s Executive Board suggested that work on the autonomous-only van or bus-like vehicle was essentially shelved while they worked on the Cybercab, but that might not quite be the case.
Autonomous RV
The conversation began when Garry requested that startups work on an autonomous RV for road trips, to which Ashok replied that Tesla was “On it”. Ashok also attached an image of the Robovan to the comment - Tesla’s fully autonomous, spacious vehicle that’s meant to serve several unaddressed market segments.
Given the size of the Robovan and some of the ideas Tesla has envisioned for its usage, we can imagine a customized Robovan serving as an RV. After all, what better way to travel than looking at the sights and lounging in your Robovan while it drives itself?
Match Made in Heaven
An RV is like a mobile home, but it requires a driver and a gas engine. When you add in autonomy and electrification, an RV becomes a true mobile home that lets you relax and use standard household amenities.
Your commute or cross-state road trip can now be as enjoyable as relaxing at home. You’ll have most of your essentials, including a desk, TV, electronics, a couch, a bed, and more.
This will open up a whole new world where the length of the trip no longer matters. We’ll likely see longer commutes, more road trips, and the trend of “van living” becoming more popular.
What Can’t Robovan Do?
The Robovan represents a departure from traditional vehicle design, focusing instead on internal volume and configurability rather than driver ergonomics. Essentially, the Robovan is a living room on wheels - carriage style seating with vast interior space, standing room, and one-way tinted glass panels to look out from.
Since it lacks any sort of control mechanism, the entire floor plan is available for amenities like beds, a kitchenette, or even a mobile workstation, making it suitable for anything from RVing across North America to being a food truck.
Think of it this way: your Robovan could drive you overnight to your nature destination. Once there, you set up your camping site inside or outside of your autonomous vehicle and go for a hike. When you’re done, simply get in and relax while you head home.
Cybercab and Robovan Serve Different Segments
As companies achieve true autonomy, we’re going to see rapid changes in what a vehicle looks like. Users will very quickly start to want a large screen, a recliner, a desk, and more.
While the Cybercab is aimed at ultimate affordability that will rival bus fares, the Robovan will serve the luxury part of the market. You’ll be able to get ready, drink your morning coffee, and start working all on your way to the office — essentially resulting in a zero commute.
Robowhen?
Tesla’s ambitions with the Robovan still seem far away. Elon’s mention that the Robovan wouldn’t see prototyping until 2027 tells us that it is still just a glint in the eye of the designers at Tesla’s Design Studio. We’ll likely see more details emerge about the Robovan and exactly what it will be capable of in the coming years. While we saw an early physical prototype at 2024’s ‘We, Robot’ event, we likely won’t see another one for a while.
For now, Tesla’s attention seems to be solely focused on getting Cybercab and Optimus production off the ground.
