Elon Musk launches steering-wheel-free Tesla Cybercabs | Latest Tech News
Elon Musk despatched dozens of self-driving Cybercabs without steering wheels or brake pedals onto the streets of Austin, Texas, on Thursday, betting that Americans will overcome their fears of rides with “no control” and hop inside.
The rollout of the gold-colored Teslas, which give passengers no manner to take control in an emergency, comes as the company prepares to launch the service in other cities. Tesla shares have suffered amid a hunch in vehicle gross sales, but they rose more than 5% Thursday on hopes that the futuristic-looking taxis will catch on rapidly.
“No steering wheel, no pedals,” Tesla teased on X before the launch. Musk adopted with a post displaying a giant Cybercab floating above the Austin skyline and later wrote, “A Storm of Cybercabs.”
Elon Musk despatched dozens of self-driving Cybercabs without steering wheels or brake pedals onto the streets of Austin, Texas, on Thursday. AP Photo/Eric Gay
An invitation-only launch event was anticipated to be held later Thursday.
It is unclear how soon Musk intends to roll out the Cybercab service, but he wants to transfer rapidly.
Tesla trails self-driving taxi chief Waymo in the quantity of cabs deployed and journeys accomplished. To catch up, it must reveal that its camera-only system can safely navigate streets and keep away from pedestrians. By distinction, Waymo and another rival, Amazon’s Zoox, supplement cameras with radar and a laser-based technology called lidar.
Even if the technology works properly, Americans still need to be satisfied.
A Pew Research Center survey carried out in February discovered that seven in 10 US adults have been “not too” or “not at all” snug driving in a driverless car.
Tesla stock was battered last yr after Musk took over President Trump’s authorities cost-cutting marketing campaign, dubbed DOGE, and embraced extreme-right political candidates, sparking protests at Tesla showrooms and boycotts by car consumers in a number of nations.
The rollout of the gold-colored Teslas, which give passengers no manner to take control in an emergency, comes as the company prepares to launch the service in other cities. REUTERS
Tesla shares have suffered amid a hunch in vehicle gross sales, but they rose more than 5% Thursday on hopes that the futuristic-looking taxis will catch on rapidly. REUTERS
Tesla posted a second consecutive annual decline in vehicle gross sales last yr. Its earnings plunged, and it misplaced its crown as the world’s best-selling electric vehicle maker to China’s BYD.
Austin has had a self-driving Tesla “robotaxi” service since June last yr, but those automobiles are outfitted with steering wheels and brake pedals. The service, which has since expanded to 5 other cities in Texas and Florida, initially carried passengers with security drivers aboard to take over in case of issues.
It is unclear how soon Musk intends to roll out the Cybercab service. AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
Tesla has more than 200 “unsupervised” robotaxis in those cities, which means they operate without security drivers aboard, according to the monitoring website RobotaxiTracker. Waymo has more than 4,000 such automobiles in 14 cities.
In the Pew survey, 16% of adults said they’d be “somewhat” snug driving in a driverless car, while 7% said they’d be “extremely” or “very” snug.
Separate Gallup polling carried out in 2025 discovered that skepticism about the security of driverless automobiles had risen over the earlier a number of years. More Americans said all or largely human-operated automobiles have been the most secure option than in a 2018 ballot.
Tesla has more than 200 “unsupervised” robotaxis in those cities, which means they operate without security drivers aboard, according to the monitoring website RobotaxiTracker. Waymo has more than 4,000 such automobiles in 14 cities. REUTERS
It is unclear whether or not Musk is the appropriate individual to coax people into automobiles with no human controls. Another Pew ballot carried out in January discovered that almost six in 10 adults had a “very” or “mostly” unfavorable view of him.
Musk finally hopes to ship full self-driving software program to lots of of 1000’s of Teslas through a software program update. That would enable Tesla house owners to flip their automobiles into taxis for rent when they don’t seem to be utilizing them.
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