Unlike the Model Ys Tesla currently uses for its Robotaxi service, the Cybercab was designed specifically for autonomous ride-hailing. The two-seat electric vehicle doesn’t have a steering wheel or pedals, meaning there’s no human driver sitting inside ready to take over.
Tesla hasn’t publicly announced exactly when Austinites could start riding in one, but the company has now confirmed something is coming.
Tesla is advertising a “Cybercab Launch Event” in Austin and is giving current Robotaxi customers a chance to attend. Riders who complete Robotaxi trips between Aug. 17 and Aug. 23 are automatically entered into a sweepstakes, with five winners expected to be notified Aug. 25. Tesla’s event page does not list a date for the actual launch event.
The timing lines up with what employees have reportedly been told internally.
According to The Information, Tesla aims to begin offering Cybercab rides to employees on Austin’s public roads by the end of August before incorporating the vehicles into its Robotaxi service a few days later. The company has spent recent weeks test-driving the Cybercab, giving employees rides on private roads and training Austin-area first responders on how to interact with the vehicle.
Tesla began testing production versions of the Cybercab on public roads in June, according to Reuters, with production expected to increase later this year.
For Texas, the rollout would mark another step in Tesla’s increasingly ambitious robotaxi experiment.
Tesla’s own website currently lists Robotaxi service in Austin, Dallas and Houston, along with three Florida cities. Those rides currently begin with Model Ys, while Tesla describes the Cybercab as its “purpose-built fully autonomous vehicle” that will eventually offer rides.
That distinction matters because Tesla sells a separate technology to regular customers called Full Self-Driving (Supervised). Despite the name, Tesla explicitly says that system is not autonomous and requires drivers to remain attentive and prepared to take control.
Cybercab is supposed to eliminate that human-driver role altogether.
Tesla hasn’t formally confirmed The Information’s reported August timetable, and Reuters reported the company did not immediately respond to its request for comment. Its own Cybercab event announcement, however, explicitly identifies Austin as the location and describes the occasion as celebrating the vehicle’s “launch.”