Full Breakdown
Tesla Moves Toward Selling Autonomous Cybercabs Amid Regulatory Scrutiny
By Drooid · · How we work
Core Announcement
Tesla disclosed that it will begin selling its gold-hued, steering-wheel-less Cybercab to third-party customers by the end of the year. The vehicles, already operating in limited numbers on public streets in Austin, are intended primarily for “transport-as-a-service” rather than private ownership. The rollout is tied to the company’s expanding robotaxi fleet, which currently includes a few hundred robotaxis in Texas and Florida and several dozen fully driverless Cybercabs in Austin.
Background & Vision
Elon Musk has long promoted a massive fleet of low-cost robotaxis, initially promising that privately owned Teslas could be added to a “Tesla Network” for passive income. Earlier promises set a 2020 target of one million robotaxis, a goal that has not materialized. Recent earnings calls shifted focus to purpose-built Cybercabs as the core of the ride-hailing service, while consumer vehicles remain dependent on supervised Full Self-Driving (FSD) software.
Official Statements & Responses
Ashok Elluswamy, vice president for autonomous driving, indicated that the same software will eventually enable Model Y owners to join the robotaxi fleet, targeting the second quarter of next year for the first customer vehicles.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into the Cybercab’s compliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, which currently require manual controls such as brake pedals and mirrors. NHTSA will examine the data Tesla used to self-certify the vehicle, and the probe could determine whether the Cybercab can be legally operated by Tesla or third parties.
Data & Statistics
- Tesla reports over 75 % of new North-American buyers selected supervised FSD this quarter, a rise of roughly 20 percentage points from the prior quarter.
- The company’s robotaxi safety site lists 3.3 million miles driven autonomously, up from 380 000 unsupervised miles reported earlier in the year.
- Vehicle sales fell this quarter, with revenue flat-lined and profits dipping, despite the autonomous-driving metrics.
Verbatim Quote
“Cybercab is primarily going to be something that is offered as like transport as a service, whereas our other cars would be more, you know, the cars that you’d want to own, like the 3 and the Y and whatnot, and the Roadster, obviously,” — Elon Musk, tesla CEO — Elon Musk, Tesla CEO