Tesla‘s Cybercab autonomous model was spotted testing on public roads for the first time Wednesday, as the company moves toward 2026 production.
The vehicle was sighted in Los Altos, California, about 10 minutes from Tesla’s engineering headquarters, according to Tesla shareholder and content creator Sawyer Merritt, who shared an image on X.
“As would be expected at this stage, a person was in the driver seat,” he noted.
The model unveiled last year as a fully autonomous two-seater with no pedals or steering wheel.
Vice President of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy commented recently on Cybercabs equipped with steering wheels and pedals spotted at Tesla‘s Gigafactory, saying the company had to “figure out a way to test it” ahead of production.
In August, Moravy stated there is a “Cybercab RC [remote controlled] fleet running around with a steering wheel,” though he clarified it is “not for sale.”
Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm presented a different perspective this week regarding the potential inclusion of these features in the production model.
“If we have to have a steering wheel, it can have a steering wheel and pedals,” Denholm told Bloomberg on Tuesday.
In the latest earnings call, CEO Elon Musk reaffirmed that the Cybercab is “a vehicle that’s optimized for full autonomy” and “an engineering optimization on minimizing fully considered cost per mile of operation.”
While other vehicles are designed for performance and driver enjoyment, the Cybercab will focus entirely on passenger comfort and smoothness, “aiming for a gentle ride the whole time.”
The model was unveiled alongside the Robovan at the company’s ‘We, Robot’ event last year. A few weeks after the event, Musk said he was “confident” about reaching volume production in 2026.
The Cybercab has also been spotted at the Giga Texas plant undergoing crash testing, according to X user Joe Tegtmeyer, who frequently shares drone images of the factory.
“This may indicate the vehicle has completed most of the final engineering & production tests out at Fremont [California] and what remains is now at Giga Texas,” Tegtmeyer said.
Last week, video footage from the Fremont factory published by YouTube user ‘Met God in Wilderness 在曠野遇見神’ also showed the vehicle testing at the facility.
With production set to begin, Tesla is currently hiring for several engineering and technician roles related to the manufacturing operations of the Cybercab in Texas.
The vehicle will debut the ‘Unboxed’ manufacturing process, in which different sections are manufactured separately and later combined during final assembly.
The patent was granted to Tesla and published late last month by the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Tesla‘s autonomous ride-hailing service launched earlier this year in Austin, using several Model Y vehicles equipped with the Full Self-Driving (FSD) Robotaxi software.
The company hasn’t disclosed whether its robotaxi fleet will include both Model Ys and Cybercabs, or whether the Cybercab will later replace the existing Model Y vehicles entirely.
