The Tesla group, a specialist in electric vehicles and energy storage, is due to launch its Cybercab, a vehicle without pedals or steering wheel specially designed for driverless taxi services, late Thursday afternoon in Austin (Texas).
Tesla did not give any details on the program, contenting itself with a digital animation posted on X on August 22, with the mention “exclusive access” to announce this meeting set for September 3.
“We’re celebrating the launch of our Cybercab robotaxi with an exclusive event in Austin, and you could be there,” the ad said, inviting customers of its robotaxis service to race multiple times for a chance to be drawn to attend.
Since then, the various X accounts of the group and of managers have multiplied the allusions with robot and taxi emojis, the words “Cybercab, Cybercab, Cybercab” or animations.
“A swarm of Cybercabs,” Elon Musk, Tesla boss, simply posted Thursday morning, accompanied by a photo of around ten Cybercabs.
Then, around 2:00 p.m. GMT, Tesla’s head of artificial intelligence, Ashok Elluswamy, called Thursday “an important day for the future of transportation.”
But fans of the brand, some of whom were among the lucky guests, published some details on social networks, saying that the event would start at 4:45 p.m. Texas time, or 11:45 p.m. in Switzerland.
However, no indication yet on Thursday morning of a possible retransmission on the internet, as Tesla is accustomed to doing.
For several weeks, social networks have been teeming with increasing reports of copies on the streets, parked in parking lots, particularly in Dallas, seeing this as the beginnings of a major launch.
The Cybercab was unveiled in October 2024 with great fanfare in a Hollywood studio. Elon Musk then planned production before 2027.
Cybercab for two
This electric vehicle with a gold body does not have a steering wheel, pedals or mirrors. It was designed primarily for robotaxi services and can only transport two people.
Tesla launched its robotaxi service in Austin in June 2025, using its Model Y consumer SUVs equipped with autonomous driving software because the Cybercab was not ready.
This launch was carried out with a limited number of vehicles and in a very restricted area of Austin, with selected users. The geographical area was gradually expanded and the service opened to the general public.
It now operates in other American cities (Orlando, Tampa, Miami, Dallas, Houston, San Francisco).
TD Securities analyst Itay Michaeli expects the Cybercab to be put into service similar to that of the robotaxi, in stages.
“This is going to be a limited launch,” he told AFP, stressing that Tesla would take into account feedback from early users before expanding the service.
According to FSD Database, which compiles data from the Texas Motor Vehicle Agency (DMV), Tesla had recorded 314 robotaxis as of Thursday morning, including 45 Cybercabs.
Texas has regulations favorable to autonomous vehicles, which make it one of the favorite testing grounds for many robotaxis services already operational like Waymo (Google) and Zoox (Amazon), or in testing like Motional (Hyundai).
Federal regulations nevertheless require the presence of a steering wheel and pedals for all commercial operations, unless there is an exemption such as that obtained by Zoox at the end of July.
However, according to information obtained by AFP, Tesla had not filed any exemption request with the federal highway safety agency (NHTSA) as of Wednesday.
The agency is in contact with Tesla and monitoring the situation, a source familiar with the matter said.
