Tesla Cybercab launches in Austin, public rides due Friday

Tesla announced the debut of its self-driving Cybercab robotaxi in Austin, Texas, on Thursday, with public access expected to begin Friday after invited attendees took the first rides, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

The gold-colored vehicle, first unveiled in October 2024, has no pedals or steering wheel. It can carry two passengers and was designed for driverless taxi services.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted an image on X of a Cybercab over Austin, where Tesla is headquartered, and forecast a "storm of Cybercabs" in the city. The company held an invite-only event at an entertainment venue that was not open to the media.

Cybercabs had been seen on Austin streets before the event, and passengers were seeing an option to choose the vehicle in Tesla's updated app.

Tesla previously introduced self-driving cars in Austin using Model Y SUVs, with its Robotaxi service later expanding to several cities in Texas, Florida and California. State laws require many of the vehicles to have a human supervisor or driver ready to take control if needed.

Waymo, the self-driving vehicle subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet, offers services in 11 US cities. FSD Database, using Texas Department of Motor Vehicles data, said Tesla had registered 314 robotaxis in Texas as of Wednesday, including 45 Cybercabs.

TD Securities analyst Itay Michaeli told AFP he expected a "slow launch" of the Cybercab similar to Tesla's Robotaxi rollout, with Tesla likely to take account of early user feedback before expanding the service.

Anthony Townsend, a senior research associate at Cornell Tech, said it remains unclear which company in the autonomous taxi sector has the best business model, whether such services can become cheaper than human-driven rides, or when companies could break even.