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Tesla Cybercab
Tesla Cybercab
Tesla Cybercab
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Tesla Cybercab
Cybercab on display, November 2024
Overview
ManufacturerTesla, Inc.
Production2026
DesignerFranz von Holzhausen
Body and chassis
Body style2-door coupe
Powertrain
Battery35 kWh
Electric range~200 mi (320 km)

The Tesla Cybercab is an upcoming two-passenger battery-electric self-driving car under development by Tesla. The vehicle is planned to be fully autonomous. The prototype vehicles have no steering wheel or pedals. The Tesla Cybercab is part of the Tesla Robotaxi service.

A concept version of the Cybercab was unveiled in October 2024, with 20 prototypes providing short rides to attendees of the announcement event. Tesla reports production is planned to commence in April 2026.

History

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Background

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In 2019, Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated that he believed that Tesla would have one million autonomous robotaxis operating on public roads by the end of 2020; observers speculated that he meant converting already sold Tesla vehicles to be autonomous.[1]

Since approximately 2020, Tesla has made public statements about a mass market electric car product that would follow the Model Y[2] and would be considerably cheaper than the Model 3. In 2022, Musk was advocating inside the company that the robotaxi would be Tesla's next vehicle, but by September 2022, he had reluctantly accepted the recommendation of Tesla executives Franz von Holzhausen and Lars Moravy that the next-generation vehicle platform should support both a small, inexpensive, mass-market car and a robotaxi that would be built with no steering wheel at all, and that both could be manufactured on the platform and use the same next-generation vehicle assembly line.[3] In October 2022, the company stated publicly that the Tesla engineering team had turned its focus to the new platform, and that the company expected the platform would enable cars to be half of the price of the Tesla Model 3 or Y.[4]

In April 2024, Musk announced that the Robotaxi reveal would take place in August, subsequently delayed to October.[5]

Announcement

[edit]
Rear view of the Tesla Cybercab at unveiling

Musk unveiled the Cybercab at the Tesla We, Robot event held October 10, 2024, at Warner Bros. Studios Burbank in California, where 20 concept Cybercabs were autonomously driving around the studio outlot at night and giving rides to attendees of the event.[6][7] Musk stated that Tesla intends to produce the Cybercab before 2027.[8] The final name of the vehicle remains unclear, as Tesla used both "Robotaxi" and "Cybercab" throughout the event to refer to the cars.[6] Tesla also demonstrated their humanoid robot, Optimus, at the event and showed off a single concept prototype of a Robovan that could reportedly hold as many as 20 passengers.[9]

The concept Cybercab shown was a two-passenger car,[10] it had two butterfly doors but no door handles as the doors opened automatically. The car had a hatchback opening for cargo, with no external charge port showing on the prototype vehicles. The car had no rear window and no side view mirrors.[11][12]

The production vehicle design will include inductive charging.[6][13]

Investor reaction to the announcement was muted, particularly given the long time frame between the announcement and expected start of production.[8] New Scientist noted the Cybercab will not be available for two years while the Waymo self-driving cars are operating on streets today.[14]

On the Tesla investor call on October 23, 2024, Tesla said they were aiming to be in volume production with Cybercab by the end of 2026, and that the annual production goal was 2 million Cybercabs per year, when several factories are at full design capacity.[citation needed]

In October 2024, Alcon Entertainment, a production company that worked on Blade Runner 2049 (2017), sued Musk for apparent similarities between Tesla's marketing of the Cybercab and the film.[15]

In November 2025 at the Shareholder meeting, Elon Musk announced that the Cybercab production will begin in Q2 2026.[16]

Design

[edit]
Interior front of Cybercab
Side view of the Cybercab

Cybercab is a two-passenger car.[9] It supports only autonomous operation: neither steering wheel nor pedals are accessible to passengers. The range is 200 mi (320 km).[17] It supports inductive charging[6] with efficiency well above 90%. Battery capacity is 35 kWh.[17] Tesla reports efficiency of 5.5 mi/kWh (8.9 km/kWh)[17]

Roof

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The roof is a made of polyurethane panels (not metal, not glass) with embedded (not painted) pigmentation. The roof is not painted during manufacturing. Plastic parts are welded ultrasonically. An extended headliner matches the frameless windows. Roof-mounted sensors are not present.[18][19]

References

[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Tesla Cybercab

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
The Tesla Cybercab is a dedicated two-passenger, fully autonomous electric robotaxi developed by , designed without a steering wheel or pedals for unsupervised operations powered by the company's Full Self-Driving technology. Tesla's robotaxi network also plans to incorporate existing models equipped with compatible Full Self-Driving hardware, enabling owners to participate in unsupervised operations in approved regions once regulatory approvals are obtained. Unveiled on October 10, 2024, at the "We, Robot" event held at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California, the Cybercab features and relies on camera-based artificial intelligence trained from Tesla's vehicle fleet data to achieve greater safety than human-driven cars. Tesla aims to produce the vehicle before 2027 at a target price below $30,000, positioning it as a cost-effective alternative in the autonomous mobility market against competitors like .

Development

Announcement

The Tesla Cybercab was unveiled on October 10, 2024, at Tesla's "We, Robot" event held at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. At the same event, Tesla also unveiled the Robovan, a larger fully autonomous electric van designed to carry up to 20 passengers or cargo. The event featured demonstrations of autonomous vehicles providing rides to attendees, highlighting Tesla's vision for unsupervised ride-hailing. During the presentation, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the Cybercab would target a price under $30,000, with production slated to begin before 2027 and an ambition to reach an annual capacity of 2 million units. These goals underscored Tesla's aim to scale affordable . The Cybercab was presented as a purpose-built robotaxi designed for operation on the Tesla Network, enabling fully autonomous without human drivers or passengers in control. Although primarily intended for fleet-based services in Tesla's robotaxi network, the Cybercab is planned to be available for individual purchase starting with 2026 production. However, there is no current process to place personal purchase orders or reservations, and no deposit or pre-order options are available. This concept positions it as a dedicated vehicle for fleet-based services, integrating with Tesla's broader autonomy initiatives.

Production timeline

Tesla plans to commence production of the Cybercab in April 2026 at its facility, with full-scale manufacturing aimed at enabling volume output ahead of the before-2027 target. This timeline supports scaling operations to meet demand for the sub-$30,000 vehicle, leveraging Tesla's established gigafactory infrastructure for efficient assembly. In January 2026, U.S. Senators John Cornyn, John Thune, and John Barrasso toured Tesla's Gigafactory Texas with Elon Musk and Tesla VP of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy, viewing the Cybercab production line utilizing the Unboxed Process, an ultra-fast process with cycle times under 10 seconds per unit enabling theoretical annual capacity up to 5 million vehicles across multiple factories. To realize the announced pricing goal below $30,000, Tesla intends to apply cost-reduction measures such as gigacasting for structural components and the integration of 4680 battery cells, which have seen ongoing production cost improvements. For deployment, Tesla anticipates securing regulatory approvals for unsupervised autonomous operations in key markets including and , with initial permits already obtained in California to facilitate robotaxi services. These pathways are essential for enabling without human intervention, pending further federal and state validations for vehicles lacking steering wheels or pedals.

Design

Exterior features

The Tesla Cybercab exhibits a sleek, low-profile coupe-like exterior design optimized for aerodynamic efficiency as a compact robotaxi. It incorporates for passenger access and omits traditional , substituting camera-based vision systems. Aerodynamic wheel covers fully enclose the wheels to minimize drag, complemented by a smooth body profile without protruding elements. Designed as a compact two-seater for efficiency and autonomy, the Cybercab measures approximately 15 feet in length and is notably narrower at about 63 inches wide—compared to approximately 73 inches for the Tesla Model 3—while being slightly shorter overall. These dimensions support its role in urban ride-hailing while maintaining a futuristic aesthetic influenced by Tesla's Cybertruck but refined for smoother lines. The body construction emphasizes lightweight plastic panels that require no painting, enhancing production efficiency and durability without the need for a traditional paint process.

Interior and passenger experience

The Tesla Cybercab's interior is configured for two passengers in a lounge-style arrangement, featuring seats resembling individual lounge chairs without any steering wheel, pedals, or traditional front seating to prioritize a relaxed ride experience. This design aligns with the vehicle's , eliminating manual controls for unsupervised operation. A central touchscreen, similar in style to that in Tesla's Model 3, serves as the primary interface for passengers to access ride controls, entertainment, and temperature adjustments. The minimalist cabin emphasizes cleanliness and ease of sanitization, supporting efficient robotaxi service.

Technology

Autonomous systems

The Tesla Cybercab employs Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) software for its autonomous operations, leveraging end-to-end neural networks to process visual inputs directly into driving decisions without traditional modular pipelines. This approach enables the vehicle to handle complex perception tasks such as object detection, trajectory prediction, and path planning in real-time. The system relies exclusively on a camera-only vision setup, utilizing eight surround cameras to provide 360-degree coverage and interpret the environment, eschewing lidar or radar sensors for cost efficiency and scalability. This Tesla Vision architecture mimics human-like sight-based navigation, trained on vast datasets from the company's fleet to recognize road users, signage, and dynamic scenarios. Continuous enhancements are delivered through software updates, allowing the Cybercab to iteratively improve performance on like dense urban navigation, construction zones, and unpredictable pedestrian behavior without hardware changes. These updates draw from aggregated real-world driving data to refine , progressively increasing reliability for unsupervised . The Cybercab's autonomous systems are powered by Tesla's AI4 hardware, which the company considers sufficient for unsupervised Full Self-Driving, as evidenced by plans to deploy the vehicle—lacking steering wheel or pedals—using this compute platform. Due to production delays for the next-generation AI5 until mid-2027, initial Cybercab launches will rely on AI4, with AI5 positioned as a substantial upgrade offering up to 40 times greater capability in certain inference tasks for future enhancements. Unsupervised deployment remains contingent on software maturation, regulatory approval, and ongoing improvements.

Powertrain and charging

The Tesla Cybercab employs a compact battery pack with a capacity under 50 kWh, delivering a real-world driving range close to 300 miles per charge to support extended unsupervised operations. This configuration emphasizes energy efficiency tailored for frequent short trips in scenarios, minimizing downtime between fares. The vehicle integrates wireless inductive charging as its primary recharging method, forgoing traditional plugs to enable seamless autonomous alignment over charging pads in depot or curbside locations. This system achieves efficiency well above 90 percent, facilitating rapid fleet turnover without human intervention.

Testing

Initial prototypes

Initial prototypes of the Tesla Cybercab were subjected to internal factory testing at the 's test track following the vehicle's unveiling, validating basic functionality and safety features in controlled settings. These early builds prioritized structural integrity assessments, including crash testing at to ensure durability under impact conditions.

Public road trials

Tesla Cybercab prototypes underwent initial public road testing in Austin, Texas, with sightings of the vehicles navigating downtown streets and emerging from parking facilities onto open roads. These observations, documented in late 2025, featured the operating in real-world urban environments, equipped with temporary steering wheels and mirrors to comply with regulatory requirements during early trials. Highway testing milestones followed, including the first captured instances of Cybercab units on public freeways near Austin, as shown in user-shared videos depicting smooth, high-speed operations. Footage from observer @AdanGuajardo highlighted slow-motion runs on freeways, demonstrating integration with Tesla's Full Self-Driving systems in dynamic traffic conditions. In early January 2026, multiple sightings were reported of Tesla Cybercab vehicles conducting highway and street testing in Austin, Texas, including nighttime operations on the MoPac Expressway. Some vehicles were equipped with steering wheels and side mirrors for safety and regulatory compliance during these trials. Testing expanded beyond Austin to other locations, including the Bay Area in California for urban validation, Chicago during snowstorms to test features like rear camera washers, Buffalo for winter conditions, and Alaska for extreme cold environments with snow tires. These public trials signify a key progression toward fully unsupervised on open roads, serving as validation for regulatory approvals ahead of production. The visibility of these tests, amplified through widespread online sharing, has drawn significant attention to the Cybercab's real-world autonomous performance.

References

  1. https://www.cbtnews.com/tesla-unveils-cybercab-and-robovan-at-we-robot-event-promising-autonomous-future/
  2. https://www.tesla.com/robotaxi
  3. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm29x5ke9jdo
  4. https://energynow.com/2024/10/elon-musk-unveils-30000-tesla-cybercab-with-2026-production-but-details-lacking/
  5. https://electrek.co/2024/10/10/tesla-unveils-robovan-a-20-seat-autonomous-passenger-cargo-van/
  6. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/10/elon-musk-hypes-a-30000-tesla-cybercab-robovan-at-robotaxi-event.html
  7. https://www.reuters.com/technology/teslas-musk-unveil-robotaxis-amid-fanfare-skepticism-2024-10-10/
  8. https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1144706_tesla-cybercab-due-before-2027-robovan-concept-debut-details
  9. https://seekingalpha.com/article/4851408-tesla-monetizing-cybercab-optimus-isnt-a-futurist-concept
  10. https://www.guideautoweb.com/en/articles/75958/tesla-unveils-cybercab-robotaxi-pledges-it-before-2027/
  11. https://insideevs.com/news/778232/tesla-cybercab-production-april-2026/
  12. https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-cybercab-test-fleet-expands-austin-bay-area/
  13. https://eletric-vehicles.com/tesla/us-senators-tour-tesla-cybercab-production-line-in-austin-with-musk/
  14. https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-cybercab-production-starts-q2-2026-elon-musk-confirms/
  15. https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-milestone-4680-battery-cell/
  16. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/tesla-gets-first-series-permits-it-needs-run-robotaxis-california-2025-03-18/
  17. https://www.autoweek.com/news/a62716451/tesla-cybercab-on-sale-texas-california-2025/
  18. https://techcrunch.com/2025/11/06/tesla-to-begin-cybercab-production-in-april-musk-claims/
  19. https://carbuzz.com/tesla-robotaxi-reveal-autonomous-bus/
  20. https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a62573676/tesla-cybercab-revealed/
  21. https://www.notateslaapp.com/news/2314/teslas-cybercab-robotaxi-price-fsd-hardware-release-date-screen-size-and-more
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  23. https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/model3/en_us/GUID-56562137-FC31-4110-A13C-9A9FC6657BF0.html
  24. https://www.torquenews.com/11826/tesla-confirms-cyber-cab-will-feature-plastic-body-panels-will-not-require-painting-instead
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  26. https://www.motortrend.com/news/tesla-cybercab-robotaxi-first-ride-self-driving-car
  27. https://aimagazine.com/articles/teslas-cybercab-robotaxi-using-ai-for-autonomous-vehicles
  28. https://www.tesla.com/fsd
  29. https://weltkern.com/story/tesla-robotaxi
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  38. https://www.notateslaapp.com/news/3444/tesla-cybercab-prototype-spotted-driving-in-downtown-austin
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  45. https://zecar.com/reviews/tesla-cybercab-spotted-driving-on-public-streets-for-the-first-time
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