Overview
- Tesla posted a factory photo of the first Cybercab from its Austin plant, which industry coverage characterizes as an early pilot build rather than a customer-ready vehicle.
- The two-seat robotaxi is designed without a steering wheel or pedals and relies entirely on Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software for operation.
- Elon Musk says continuous production is slated to begin in April 2026 and warns the initial ramp will be “agonizingly slow” as the new unboxed manufacturing process comes online.
- Independent tracking of Tesla’s Austin robotaxi pilot reports roughly 14 crashes over about 800,000 miles, low service availability, and only a small number of truly unsupervised rides to date.
- Regulatory approvals remain unresolved for a vehicle without human controls, with reports noting Tesla may need federal exemptions and that California’s DMV dropped a threatened suspension after the company revised Autopilot and FSD marketing language.