Everyone was expecting Tesla to reveal a driverless taxi on Thursday night, but Elon Musk also had a surprise up his sleeve. After rocking up to his firm’s We, Robot event in the cybercab, the tech billionaire took the wraps off another new vehicle: a “Robovan”.

The humanoid robots – faceless, tall figures with joint-like bends around the knees, hips, shoulders and elbows – can “basically do anything you want,” Musk said.