Tesla (TSLA.US) self-driving taxi Cybercab unveiled in Austin, steerless design triggers regulatory scrutiny

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on September 3 (Thursday) local time, Tesla (TSLA.US) held an exclusive launch event in Austin, Texas, to officially launch its first native autonomous taxi, Cybercab, and open limited area ride-hailing services to the public the next day. This two-seater model with a gold exterior and butterfly door design does not have a steering wheel or pedals, but instead relies on camera vision and sensors to achieve autonomous driving. This groundbreaking design has drawn regulatory attention.

The launch event was held in a low-key manner, and Musk was absent

The Cybercab launch event was invitation-based, and there was no public live broadcast. The invited guests were mainly content creators supporting Tesla. According to reports, Tesla CEO Elon Musk did not attend the event. Executives on site shared Cybercab's manufacturing process and technology for about 15 minutes.

Tesla announced on Thursday that the Cybercab ride service will be open to the public from 5 p.m. (US Central Time) on September 4, and is currently limited to limited areas in Austin. Tesla did not announce specific fees, but executives said at the event that they would adopt a dynamic pricing strategy and promised to “provide a first class experience at economy class prices.”

According to documents published on Tesla's official website, children under 13 are not allowed to ride Cybercab, and minors aged 13 to 17 must be accompanied by an adult. Additionally, Tesla said SpaceX's Starlink V5 satellite internet service will soon be directly integrated into CyberCab to provide seamless network connectivity.

Users interested in purchasing a Cybercab fleet or individual vehicle for commercial use can submit an application of intent. Tesla previously said the model would sell for less than $30,000.

Musk has promised for many years that an autonomous Tesla car is coming soon, but the actual implementation progress has failed to reach his goal. Musk posted a video on social media on the afternoon of the day of the event, saying that the Cybercab was “the first car specially built for fully autonomous driving without supervision.” Tesla released a crash test video on the X platform, saying the Cybercab was “designed to be the safest car on the road.”

Regulators launch review of safety standards

Notably, Cybercab's practice of completely eliminating traditional manual control devices has drawn the attention of US federal regulators. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it has contacted Tesla and is evaluating the situation.

On September 4, NHTSA announced the launch of an investigation into approximately 1,000 Tesla CyberCabs, focusing on the certification process and technical data used by Tesla to prove that the model complies with federal motor vehicle safety standards. NHTSA stated that Cybercab did not permanently install traditional manual controls, including steering wheels, brake pedals, accelerator pedals, and rearview mirrors.

The electric car maker has registered 420 autonomous vehicles in Texas, including 45 Cybercab, according to government documents.

Autonomous driving ambitions support Tesla's market capitalization

Since starting a pilot in Austin in June 2025, Tesla's autonomous taxi service has expanded to several cities in Texas and Florida. Analysts and investors generally believe that autonomous driving is Tesla's future core growth engine and an important support for its market value of about 1.4 trillion US dollars.

In this strategic layout, Cybercab is seen as a key location. Musk said earlier that this model will eventually become Tesla's best-selling model, not only serving the global autonomous taxi network, but also allowing car owners to join or leave the vehicle's unified management of the autonomous vehicle fleet managed by Tesla when idle.

However, Cybercab's path to mass production still faces real challenges. Tesla had planned to start production in April 2026, but Musk warned in April that initial production would be “very slow.” Meanwhile, Tesla's core electric vehicle business is facing increasingly fierce market competition.

Currently, Tesla has launched a limited autonomous taxi service, mainly Model Y, and some vehicles are equipped with safety monitoring personnel. Its Texas-registered fleet is less than half the size of rival Waymo. According to Tesla's plan, the future will gradually expand the scale of operation using Cybercab without a steering wheel as the main model for its large-scale autonomous taxi network.

The market reacted positively to the news that Tesla Cybercab had started operations. The company's stock price closed up more than 5% on Thursday and has risen 8% since this week.

As of press time, Tesla was down more than 2% before the market.