Tesla Rolls Out Cybercab Rides in Limited Austin Areas

Tesla has begun offering rides in its two-seater Cybercab, a vehicle with no steering wheel or pedals, in limited areas of Austin, Texas. The company updated its robotaxi website on Thursday with details of the service, though it did not specify whether passengers would be charged or if all Austin users of its app could book a ride.

The Cybercab is central to CEO Elon Musk's vision of transforming Tesla into a dominant player in driverless vehicles. The company has been running a small robotaxi pilot in Austin since June 2025, using Model Ys, some with human safety monitors. The Cybercab is intended to become the main vehicle in a larger Tesla-managed robotaxi network, with production beginning in April 2026, though Musk has cautioned that initial output will be slow.

Tesla's robotaxi ambitions underpin its $1.4 trillion market value, as its core electric-vehicle business faces intense competition, especially from Chinese manufacturers. However, the rollout has faced delays and regulatory constraints. Federal rules cap the number of vehicles a manufacturer can sell without steering wheels and pedals, and Tesla lacks permits in California to operate driverless services without a safety driver.

Real-world testing has also revealed gaps. A reporter testing the service in Dallas and Houston encountered long wait times and was sometimes dropped off a 15-minute walk from the destination. State records show Tesla has 45 Cybercab vehicles among 420 autonomous vehicles registered in Texas, compared to Alphabet's Waymo, which has 988.