Electric-vehicle maker Tesla announced the debut of its self-driving robotaxi, dubbed “Cybercab,” on Thursday in a bid to compete with the likes of Uber and Waymo. First unveiled in October 2024, the gold-coloured vehicle has no pedals or steering wheel and carries a maximum of two passengers, having been specifically designed to provide driverless taxi services.
CEO Elon Musk posted an image on X showing a Cybercab looming over Austin, Texas, where Tesla is headquartered, trailed by a dramatic cloud of dust. Ahead of the launch, Cybercabs had already been spotted on Austin’s streets, with passengers now able to select the new vehicle option through Tesla’s updated dedicated app.
Describing the moment as “humanity changing,” Australian tourist Graham Sprigg told AFP: “It’ll change transportation from owning your own car to actually just getting transportation as a service, which is fantastic for disabled people and old people like I’m becoming.”
Musk forecast a “storm of Cybercabs” in Austin, where Tesla held an invite-only event at an entertainment venue closed to media access. According to the Austin American-Statesman, event attendees were the first to experience rides in driverless Tesla Cybercab vehicles, which became available to the wider public starting Friday. Social media posts showed enthusiastic fans arriving for the event, with some even dressed in gold to match the vehicle’s distinctive colour.
Tesla’s promotional messaging emphasised the vehicle’s safety and accessibility for disabled passengers, describing the Cybercab as “democratizing clean transportation for all.”
Last year, Tesla debuted its self-driving cars in Austin using Model Y SUV vehicles, with the “Robotaxi” service gradually expanding to several other cities across Texas, Florida and California. However, state laws currently require many of these vehicles to have a human supervisor or driver ready to intervene if necessary.
Waymo, the self-driving vehicle subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet, currently operates its services across 11 US cities. As of Wednesday, Tesla had registered 314 robotaxis in Texas, including 45 Cybercabs, according to data from the FSD Database, based on figures from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles.
Itay Michaeli, an analyst at TD Securities, told AFP he expects a “slow launch” for the Tesla Cybercab, similar to the earlier Robotaxi rollout, suggesting Tesla will likely incorporate feedback from early users before expanding the service further. Texas maintains regulations particularly favourable to autonomous vehicles, making it a preferred testing ground for companies including Waymo and Zoox, alongside others still in trial phases, such as Motional.
Anthony Townsend, a senior research associate at Cornell Tech, noted that “Tesla is really just getting started,” though it remains unclear which company in this increasingly crowded field will ultimately develop the strongest business model. He added: “It’s always been the promise that AV taxi companies will become cheaper than human-driven rides, but it’s not clear that’s even within sight,” noting that it also remains unknown when these companies might achieve profitability.
Do you think Tesla’s Cybercab can realistically compete with established players like Waymo in the driverless taxi market?
