The Zhitong Finance App learned that according to the tech media The Information on Monday, quoting people familiar with the matter, Tesla (TSLA.US) has revealed to internal employees that it is intensively preparing for the public launch of Cybercab. The plan is to launch it first in Austin, Texas, and it will be implemented within this month as soon as possible.
The Cybercab is Tesla's model for autonomous driving. Eliminating the steering wheel and pedals, it is regarded as the core carrier of the company's Robotaxi (Robotaxi) strategy. In the future, Tesla plans to deploy this model on an autonomous ride-hailing service network on a large scale.
Tesla told employees that Cybercab will first open the ride experience to internal employees on public roads, and within a few days, the model will officially be included in Austin's Robotaxi service fleet.
In recent weeks, the company has carried out a number of preparations, including test drive tests, test rides for employees on private roads, and joint training exercises with local emergency response departments.
In May of this year, aerial footage showed that more than 70 Cybercab vehicles were parked in the Texas Gigafactory, an increase of 75% over the 40 vehicles observed on May 8. The vehicles are distributed in three different areas of the factory area, and another part is driving within the factory area, indicating that testing and production are progressing simultaneously.
In June of this year, Tesla began testing the production version of the Cybercab on public roads. It is expected that the model will enter the production capacity climbing phase later this year. In June, Tesla officially carried out engineering tests of the first mass-produced version of the Cybercab on Austin public roads, and the Texas Transportation Authority has officially confirmed the model's design without control components. Musk simultaneously released a live video of Cybercab driving autonomously on the streets of Austin.
Cybercab is Tesla's model for autonomous driving scenarios. Eliminating the steering wheel and pedals, it is the core carrier of the company's Robotaxi (robot taxi) strategy. The model first debuted on October 10, 2024 at Tesla's “WE, ROBOT” press conference. In the future, Tesla plans to deploy this model on an autonomous ride-hailing service network on a large scale.
Unlike Robotaxi, which currently operates based on the Model Y and Model 3, Cybercab completely eliminated all driving control components from the beginning of the product design and relied entirely on autonomous driving systems. Musk previously positioned the Cybercab as a “model built entirely around FSD,” and its software architecture relies on Tesla's end-to-end neural network. Musk also positioned it as the company's long-term main model, and believes that the vast majority of future production should be Cybercab.
As of press time, Tesla had not responded to requests for comment.