Tesla offered a glimpse of its anticipated driverless Cybercabs ahead of a secretive event in Austin, Texas, with the company posting on X, "No steering wheel, no pedals."
The cryptic message, accompanied by owner Elon Musk's remark, "A Storm of Cybercabs," has fueled anticipation for new details about the autonomous taxis, which were first revealed nearly two years ago. The Cybercab is envisioned as a two-seater vehicle with butterfly doors, entirely reliant on self-driving technology and devoid of traditional controls.
Recent sightings in Austin have shown Cybercab vehicles on public streets, with some appearing to operate without a visible steering wheel or driver. One video captured a gold Cybercab pulling over to accommodate passengers, with one of its doors partially opening to avoid a traffic cone.
If Tesla officially unveils a fully autonomous Cybercab at its event, it would represent a significant advancement. The company has been testing robotaxis in various U.S. markets, but these have all featured conventional steering controls and a human driver present. The success of a truly driverless vehicle could be a crucial factor for Tesla's stock, which has seen a 13% decline this year.
Musk has positioned the Cybercab as a cornerstone of Tesla's future growth strategy, particularly as the company navigates challenges with declining electric car sales. He has stated his ambition for Tesla to evolve into a broader technology firm, with a focus on artificial intelligence and humanoid robots. In April, Musk indicated that Tesla had begun production of the Cybercabs, sharing footage of a robotaxi leaving the production floor at the Austin Gigafactory.
Investors are hopeful for an announcement regarding the Cybercab's imminent rollout onto city streets, especially as competitors like Google's Waymo continue to expand their driverless taxi services. Waymo currently operates approximately 4,000 driverless robotaxis across 14 U.S. cities.
Tesla's current models are equipped with the hardware for its Full Self-Driving technology, which, despite its name, requires a human driver to remain attentive and ready to intervene. The company states the system can navigate to most destinations with minimal human input. According to a Robotaxi tracker, Tesla has around 200 vehicles registered as "unsupervised" in the U.S., operating without a human driver in specific areas of certain cities where autonomous technology is permitted. These vehicles have been observed in cities including Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Orlando, and Tampa.