Tesla is testing a production Cybercab without a steering wheel or pedals in Austin, Texas, with a safety monitor aboard — a step toward the company's broader robotaxi ambitions as a key federal regulatory change nears approval.
Tesla has begun testing a production version of its two-seat Cybercab robotaxi in Austin, Texas — a vehicle equipped with neither a steering wheel nor brake pedals, marking a step toward the company's goal of a fully autonomous ride-hail network.
A video posted on X, the social media platform owned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, shows the vehicle operating with a safety monitor seated in the right passenger seat. The test represents a significant escalation from earlier Cybercab evaluations, in which prototype versions equipped with steering wheels and pedals were deployed across several U.S. cities.
The public testing comes nearly two years after Tesla first revealed the Cybercab's design, and roughly a year after the company launched a separate robotaxi service in Austin using modified Model Y SUVs, which have at times also relied on safety monitors.
In recent weeks, Tesla has been parking hundreds of Cybercabs in lots across multiple cities, fueling speculation that the company was preparing to scale up its robotaxi operations significantly.
One regulatory barrier to that expansion may soon be removed. Last week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration published a proposal that would not mandate brake pedals in "vehicles designed to be driven exclusively by automated driving systems." The proposal is currently in a public comment period and is expected to be finalized later this year.
Tesla and Musk have argued the company holds several structural advantages over current robotaxi leader Waymo, an Alphabet subsidiary. Chief among them is that Tesla manufactures both the vehicles and the autonomous driving software, which the company says gives it far greater cost control than Waymo, which sources vehicles through partnerships with brands including Jaguar and Zeekr. Tesla is also pursuing full autonomy using cameras alone, while Waymo relies on a more complex sensor stack that includes lidar and radar.
Neither company has been immune to operational setbacks. Tesla's Austin robotaxi service has experienced minor crashes, at least two of which were attributed to remote operators. Waymo has faced its own challenges at scale — including a recall tied to difficulties navigating highway construction zones, a separate recall stemming from vehicles entering flooded roads during heavy rain, and incidents involving school buses.
Tesla has, to some degree, operated under less public scrutiny in Austin because its robotaxi fleet uses lightly modified consumer vehicles that are harder to distinguish from ordinary Model Ys on the road. The gold-colored, two-seat Cybercab's distinctive profile will make its performance — and any incidents — considerably more visible as the company moves toward a broader rollout.
Whether NHTSA's proposed regulatory change clears its comment period on schedule will be a key variable for Tesla's ambitions. For now, the Austin tests represent the most concrete public demonstration yet that the company is moving from prototype evaluation toward production deployment of a vehicle purpose-built to operate without any human controls.
Jay Goldberg is a staff writer at TechEchelon covering technology, markets, and policy. He files the breaking news and deal coverage that move the publication's core desks.
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