I just stumbled across a leap in the world. Cordless charging. Forget your cables, everything is now just charged through the air or by putting something onto a wireless charging point. It’s called induction charging and you’ve probably already used it. You put your phone down on a mouse-mat sort of base, and it starts to charge up. Nice.
This is also the next battle between the tech super giants. All of them want to offer wireless charging of devices and ultimate connectivity and, first amongst equals, Tesla has jumped the shark.
In major announcements last week at the Tesla We, Robot event, one particular announcement caught my attention: the new Tesla Cybercab Robotaxi. The Robotaxi will be priced under $30,000 and enter mass production in 2026. It is optimized for autonomous driving with $0.30/mile operating costs, inductive charging, and self-cleaning routine.
The key part of that announcement is that there is no electric charging point on the vehicle. It just needs to be parked near a wireless charging point. This is a big deal as Tesla was first to develop a charging point called NACS, the North American Charging Standard, which had become a standard. Now, they’re dropping it. It’s a big deal.
In Tesla’s video, the Robotaxi or, as Musk has named it, the Cybercab (editor: marketing must hate Musk for changing brands on the fly) is shown to drive up to an inductive charger and opens its butterfly doors. A cleaning robot then proceeds to clear out all the dirt and trash in the Robotaxi’s interior.
The aim is to have a system that runs the vehicles with as little human labour as possible. Building on this, another announcement was the Robovan (or is it the Cybervan?). The Robovan will be an electric, autonomous vehicle roughly the size of a bus, designed for transporting people around high density areas. It will carry up to 20 people at a time and also transport goods, according to Musk.
Another big deal was the launch of Tesla’s Optimus robots. There was a bunch of Tesla’s robots walking out to reveal the new Robovan vehicle. “The Optimus will walk amongst you,” Musk quips. “You’ll be able to walk right up to them”. He went on to explain that the robots can “do anything” from walking your dog, babysitting your kids, mowing your lawn, serving you drinks, etc.
For more on this, checkout: Elon Musk shows off bartending robots at a recent Tesla event, but some attendees say the automatons were being controlled by people (msn.com)
Then, just to sprinkle more future vision into the mix, SpaceX successfully launched their fifth Super Heavy rocket and, most importantly, brought it back to Earth again to be re-used. Reusuable rockets are the future.
In fact, as Elon Musk says: “The future should look like the future”. That hits to my heart, although I do not empathise with the way Elon Musk behaves socially or on social media.
Nevertheless, all of these announcements made me remember the You Will campaign in the 1990s.
I worked for an AT&T subsidiary back then, and the campaign was visionary. Most has now been delivered. Tesla and Musk’s other companies like SpaceX are visionary (not X, which is now down the toilet). Equally, most of what Musk’s companies are delivering are not his ideas. They are the visions of engineers and innovative teams. For example, Tesla Motors was founded as an electric carmaker by engineers Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning in 2003. Do you talk about Martin and Marc or Musk?
Elon Musk is a very clever investor and orchestrator.
What does this have to do with fintech and banking?
Well, if the Tesla vision is that all trucks, vans, cars and taxis can self-drive, self-clean and self-charge, where is the money? If all domestic needs are run by a $30,000 robot, where is the money?
The challenge for all of us is that we are rapidly approaching a future that looks like the future where there is no money. Remember the Gene Rodenberry Star Trek vision where money does not exist in the future? Reputation is the currency? Maybe we are not so far away. In fact, if we really want a vision of the future looking like the future, then here is the vision according to Star Trek:
“The Federation economy is best described as a centralized, post-scarcity, resource-based economy based on mutual interlocking responsibilities. The Federation Charter specifies that member planets are to promote social progress and better standards of living, an aim that is undermined by economic systems that encourage income inequality.
“Widespread replicator technology ensures that no citizen of the Federation needs to fear a lack of food or shelter. Federation resources are held in common for the benefit of Federation citizens, and administered by the executive branch of the Federation government. A Federation citizen is guaranteed a share of their planet’s total resources sufficient to live a comfortable and healthy life. While much is provided in the form of food, housing, and other basic needs, this share includes a certain amount of resources on account to be used at the citizen’s discretion. The citizen is free to invest these resources as they see fit: they may trade in commodities traded between Federation members or in interstellar trade, build a business, or pursue whatever career appeals to their interests and abilities. Citizens, in return, are expected to devote some of their time and capabilities to supporting their community and society, such as serving in a governmental office or Starfleet. Citizens who make public service their career are granted a greater share of resources, as a recognition of their contributions to society. While it remains technically possible for a Federation citizen to pursue the acquisition of wealth, it is no longer the societal norm. Social and economic progress is no longer measured by consumption, but in the welfare of all the citizenry.
“By the 24th century, the Federation does not use money, nor does it print currency. The “Federation Credit” officially exists only as a unit of accounting. Its value is fixed to a tiny percentage of the total production of the four founding members of the Federation as of December 31, 2161, and it is primarily used for budgetary purposes and as a medium of trade with cultures that still use money-based economies. Credit chips can still be found occasionally along the Federation’s frontiers as relics of the past or as trade artifacts.”
Source: STA Beta Quadrant Sourcebook, Page 18
Meanwhile, for all the highlights of the Tesla event, watch this:
Oh, and for more on Musk's futuristic predictions, click here.
Oh, and just in case you forgot, I said that Elon Musk was Tony Stark eight years ago ... but now realise that he may be Tony Stark but without the charisma.
Finally, induction charging, checkout this update from Infineon.
Chris M Skinner
Chris Skinner is best known as an independent commentator on the financial markets through his blog, TheFinanser.com, as author of the bestselling book Digital Bank, and Chair of the European networking forum the Financial Services Club. He has been voted one of the most influential people in banking by The Financial Brand (as well as one of the best blogs), a FinTech Titan (Next Bank), one of the Fintech Leaders you need to follow (City AM, Deluxe and Jax Finance), as well as one of the Top 40 most influential people in financial technology by the Wall Street Journal's Financial News. To learn more click here...
