Tesla put its purpose-built Cybercab on Austin streets Thursday: a gold two-seater with no steering wheel, no pedals and no way for a passenger to take over.
Elon Musk posted “A Storm of Cybercabs” as the company held an invitation-only launch and began offering rides in limited parts of Austin, according to The Texas Tribune, Reuters and the Associated Press. Tesla teased “No steering wheel, no pedals” on X before the event. The Associated Press said Tesla sent dozens of the vehicles out and that shares rose more than 5% Thursday.
The Cybercab is different from the robotaxis already working in Texas. Austin has had a Tesla robotaxi service since June 2025, but those cars are Model Ys with wheels and pedals. Tesla has also run unsupervised Model Y robotaxis in Dallas, Houston and Florida cities, the AP reported, citing RobotaxiTracker. Dallas service launched in April 2026 in central neighborhoods including downtown, Uptown, Highland Park and Lower Greenville, The Dallas Morning News reported. Hours there have been listed as 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. Riders in Dallas still get a Model Y, not a Cybercab. Tesla’s site has said the wheel-free car would come to Dallas “in the future.”
Cybercab safety https://t.co/9DQYsSTGeU
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 4, 2026
Tesla registered 45 Cybercabs in Texas ahead of the Austin event, the Austin American-Statesman reported. Reuters said the U.S. auto safety agency was evaluating the effort. Tesla uses cameras only. Waymo and Amazon’s Zoox add radar and lidar. A Pew survey in February found most U.S. adults were uncomfortable riding in a driverless car.
NHTSA has open investigations into Tesla’s partial self-driving software over crashes, red-light incidents and reporting delays, the AP noted. No injuries were reported from Thursday’s Austin launch.
Musk has said he wants to send full self-driving software to existing Teslas so owners can hire their cars out. Regulators have not approved that model at scale.
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