Tesla Cybercab is already rolling in Austin: the robotaxi with no steering wheel enters service

Photo: @aelluswamy / X

Tesla has taken the step the community had been waiting almost two years for. The Cybercab, the two-seater designed from scratch to drive with no driver, no steering wheel and no pedals, is now part of the Robotaxi fleet in Austin. After a private event on Thursday, September 3, the company confirms that anyone will be able to request it through the app.

The Cybercab is not a Model Y “with nobody behind the wheel.” It is a different vehicle: a two-seat coupe in gold, with gull-wing doors, no side mirrors and a cabin designed only for passengers. In the center there is a large touchscreen. There is no driver’s seat. The trunk can take suitcases and large items, but capacity is strict: a maximum of two people.

Tesla unveiled it in October 2024 at the We, Robot event. Production at Giga Texas started in February 2026 and series production in April. According to the EPA certification, it weighs 1,412 kg, has a 219 hp front motor, a battery of about 48 kWh and is rated at nearly 293 miles (about 470 km). On paper, it is the most efficient Tesla to date, with consumption of 165 Wh/mi.

In Texas there are 45 Cybercabs registered. The state’s Robotaxi fleet is around 420 vehicles; most are still Model Ys with unsupervised FSD. Requesting a Cybercab does not guarantee that one will show up: the app assigns a Cybercab or a Model Y based on availability and the number of passengers. If there are three or four of you, you will get a Model Y.

How to book it

You open the Robotaxi app (iOS and Android), choose a destination inside Austin’s service area and confirm. The doors open when they detect the phone. You have to buckle your seat belt and tap Start Ride on the screen. There is a physical emergency stop button and a mechanical lever to open the door if needed. Children under 13 cannot ride in the Cybercab (in the Model Y the limit is 8, always accompanied). Tesla talks about dynamic pricing and promises “a first-class experience at coach price.”

The Cybercab is not yet sold to private buyers. Elon Musk’s target remains under $30,000, with customer sales toward 2027. Tesla is already collecting interest for commercial fleet purchases. Installed capacity points to about 125,000 units a year; the ambition is millions. NHTSA has said it is in contact with Tesla and is evaluating the rollout. For now the service is geofenced to limited areas of Austin.

Tesla Robotaxi already operates in Dallas, Houston, Miami, Orlando, Tampa and the Bay Area as well, but the Cybercab, for now, is only in Austin. Waymo is still well ahead in fleet size. The value of this launch is not the number of cars: it is the first Tesla built so that a human never has to take the controls.

The Cybercab will be available to everyone in Austin starting at 5 pm CT. Anyone with the Robotaxi app and a destination inside the service map can request it from that time. The fleet is small and waits may be long, but the vehicle Musk announced as the future of urban transport can now be booked like an Uber… with no driver, no steering wheel and no pedals.