You may be eagerly waiting for the much-delayed Tesla Cybertruck, but while you wait, we found something at the LA Auto Show that might satiate you: meet the Robotruck from a new startup called Aitekx.
We hadn’t heard of Aitekx before, which has a small booth in the West hall of the Auto Show. In recognition of the hot tech buzzword of the year, the company says that its name represents its focus on the AI mobility future – AI + Tech + X. And it just unveiled its upcoming vehicle, which it calls Robotruck (yes, really), and says that it plans to have it out in 2025.
The company claims some rather optimistic specs, including a 550-mile EPA range (though it wouldn’t tell us how many kWh its battery is – though with a range like that, it would have to be 200kWh or more), 0-60 in 3.5 seconds, and a top speed of 125mph.
Aitekx also says that the truck will be 188-198 inches long, depending on configuration, and 76.6 inches in width. So it’s not quite a Cybertruck – which we learned last week is significantly longer and wider – though the Robotruck will supposedly have a 6-foot bed, just as the Cybertruck does, despite it being about two feet shorter than the Cybertruck. And Robotruck is also claiming it will have a mid-gate to fold down the seats and make the bed even longer – one of the original claims that Tesla made, which we haven’t heard any more about since then.
Why all these comparisons to Cybertruck? Well, the design is, uh, certainly inspired by Cybertruck to say the least. Have a look at the prototype that was just unveiled:
This is just an early prototype, so surely things will change when (if) it comes to production. But Aitekx said that these prototypes are the real deal and that it is already driving them around.
But, seeing that the taillights are literal LED light strips and the panel gaps are reminiscent of a Tesla release candidate, we’re not so sure about this prototype being the real deal yet. But hey, at least Aitekx isn’t 14 days from release.
While we don’t know a price yet, Aitekx says that it will focus on build-to-order vehicles to begin with but eventually wants to get down into the $40,000 range. When we asked how they would do that with what must be a 200+ kWh battery, Aitekx told us that you never know what future technology might be capable of. Two years isn’t that far off, though, so we’ll have to see how that plays out.
Top comment by diglossia
I didn't think it was possible for a vehicle to be uglier than the Cybertruck, but the design team at Aitekx has surprised me.
Also: can you imagine waking up and going to work every day to bring such a blatantly derivative product to market?
Aitekx says that it’s currently taking fully refundable reservations at $100 a pop, if you can find the link on its typo-ridden website. And it even has a configurator to pick your options (beating Tesla to the punch on that one).
Electrek’s Take
Mama told me that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
Then again, I’ve been wrong before about the unveiling of an overly optimistic EV from a startup, which I never thought would happen, and then it did.
I wish them luck. I’d have picked a different vehicle to knock off, though.
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