During Thursday’s shareholder meeting, CEO Elon Musk announced that Tesla will start manufacturing the Cybercab—an autonomous electric vehicle designed without pedals or a steering wheel—this coming April at its Austin, Texas facility.
Musk’s remarks about the Cybercab followed shortly after shareholders gave overwhelming approval to a compensation plan for him, potentially valued at up to $1 trillion in Tesla stock, marking the largest such package in business history.
“We’ve developed the first vehicle purpose-built for fully autonomous, unsupervised driving—a robotaxi named Cybercab. It lacks both pedals and a steering wheel,” Musk explained, noting that side mirrors are also absent. “It’s engineered to minimize cost per mile in autonomous operation, and production will take place right here at this plant, beginning in April next year.”
Despite repeated assurances, Tesla has not yet proven that its vehicles can operate autonomously at scale without a human safety operator.
Musk’s statements appear to contradict Tesla chairwoman Robyn Denholm, who recently told Bloomberg that the Cybercab would feature a steering wheel and pedals as a contingency. Tesla had previously considered offering a version with these controls, but Musk ultimately decided to pursue a more minimalistic approach for its most affordable models.
Musk also highlighted the Cybercab’s production process, claiming the assembly line will achieve a 10-second cycle time—a significant leap from the one-minute cycle time for the Model Y. According to Musk, this could allow for annual production of between 2 and 3 million Cybercabs.
“These vehicles will be everywhere in the years to come,” he predicted.
Tesla first introduced the Cybercab in October 2024 at its high-profile “We, Robot” event at Warner Bros. Discovery studios in California, promising that the vehicle would eventually be available for private ownership.
Since that unveiling, Tesla has rolled out a very basic robotaxi service, though not with the Cybercab itself. The service, which began in June in select Austin neighborhoods, uses Model Y SUVs equipped with what Musk has described as a new, “unsupervised” version of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software. A Tesla staff member occupies the passenger seat during these autonomous trips.
Deploying a Cybercab—or any vehicle—on public roads without conventional features like a steering wheel will require federal regulatory approval. Earlier this year, Zoox, backed by Amazon, secured an exemption, but only for demonstration purposes with its custom robotaxis on public streets. Zoox is still seeking permission to operate a commercial robotaxi service.
Obtaining such regulatory exemptions is a lengthy and complex process. For instance, General Motors was unsuccessful in getting approval for its purpose-built Cruise Origin. Waymo, the leading robotaxi operator in the U.S., continues to use modified Jaguar I-Pace vehicles that retain standard controls, though it is also working on a new vehicle with Zeekr.
Musk appeared undeterred by the possibility of regulatory obstacles and expressed gratitude to Waymo for “leading the way.”
“I believe we’ll be able to put every Cybercab we manufacture on the road,” Musk said in response to a shareholder’s question at the annual meeting. “As these vehicles become a common sight in cities, regulators will have fewer and fewer reasons to object.”
