Tesla Launched the Cybercab Thursday, 6 Weeks After Removing Volume Production of It From This Year's Plan
Tesla has launched its two-seat Cybercab in Austin, Texas, despite previously removing the vehicle from its 2026 volume production plans. While the robotaxi is now available for commercial use, the company has not provided a timeline for mass production.
Why it matters
The launch highlights the gap between Tesla's ambitious autonomous vehicle concepts and the practical challenges of scaling manufacturing.
At an invite-only event in downtown Austin on Thursday, Tesla ( TSLA -5.92% ) put the Cybercab into service. The two-seat robotaxi has no steering wheel and no pedals. And riders in the city can now hail one through the company's Robotaxi app, joining the driverless Model Ys that have carried paying passengers there since June 2025.
Shares rose 5.7% on Thursday ahead of the event, closing at about $376.
CEO Elon Musk spent the run-up teasing the launch, pinning a post on X that read "A storm of Cybercabs." The storm, for now, is modest: Texas has authorized 45 Cybercabs for driverless operation statewide.
Also covering this story
10 other newsrooms covered this event. We read each version separately.
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