Without steering wheel or pedals: Tesla presents two-seater Cybercab

Without steering wheel and pedals: Tesla to present two-seater Cybercab

On Thursday, September 3, in Texas, Tesla will present the two-seater autonomous vehicle Cybercab, Reuters reports. The automaker plans to show a model without a steering wheel and pedals, which Elon Musk considers a key element in turning the company into a leader in the autonomous transport market.

Currently, Tesla is already testing a limited robotaxi service based on autonomous Model Y crossovers in several cities in Texas and Florida, but the commercial use of vehicles without traditional controls faces regulatory barriers. Under current US federal rules, the sale of vehicles without a steering wheel and pedals is limited in volume, and the company still lacks the necessary permits for the commercial operation of autonomous vehicles in a number of states, including California.

As part of a pilot project that launched in the summer of 2025, Tesla's service often faces limited coverage areas and longer wait times. According to state registries, 420 of the company's autonomous vehicles are registered in Texas, 45 of which are Cybercab models. For comparison, Waymo, the leader in the US autonomous transportation market, uses about a thousand vehicles in the state.

Despite previously announced plans to begin production of the Cybercab in April 2026 and build a global autonomous taxi network based on it, Musk has acknowledged that initial production volumes will scale up extremely slowly. Analysts point out that the development of autonomous technology is crucial for Tesla's market capitalization amid intensifying competition in the global electric vehicle market.