Asia Tech Wire (Oct 11) -- Tesla CEO Elon Musk arrived at the company's launch event late Thursday in a prototype car to show off his long-promised robotaxi.

The vehicle has two gullwing doors, no steering wheel or pedals, no charging ports and will introduce inductive charging technology.

Musk's plan is to operate a fleet of Tesla self-driving cabs called Cybercabs, which passengers can hail through an app. And individual Tesla car owners can also make money on the app by listing their vehicles as robotaxis.

Musk expects to begin production of the Cybercab in 2026, and by 2027 will be producing the vehicle at a very high volume, with the Cybercab costing less than US$30,000.

In addition, Musk announced the launch of Robovan, a driverless van that can carry up to 20 people.

Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots also made an appearance at Thursday's launch, performing a group dance to demonstrate the robots' dexterity.