Tesla Begins Cybercab Production. Now Comes The Hard Part

Tesla has just reached a milestone in its autonomous vehicle push. Its first purpose-built driverless vehicle just rolled off the Gigafactory Texas production line, the automaker claimed in a social media post on Tuesday.

The Cybercab is the company’s answer to Alphabet’s Waymo robotaxis and the Amazon-backed Zoox’s pods. The two-seater coupe, unveiled in 2024 at the company’s We Robot event, comes without a steering wheel or pedals. It’s guided by the company’s Full-Self Driving (FSD) software, which is also an option on its passenger vehicles.

However, on private vehicles, FSD still requires full driver supervision. With no steering wheel or pedals, the Cybercab would be fully autonomous, at least in theory.

CEO Elon Musk has made the stakes clear. Robotaxis—along with Tesla’s humanoid robots—are central to the company’s future and could unlock trillions of dollars in value. Its Model Y robotaxis are already operational in the San Francisco Bay Area and Austin, albeit with human safety monitors on board. Although the company has been ramping up unsupervised rides lately—the number of truly driverless Teslas in Austin is now seven, according to Robotaxi Tracker. 

Musk said on Monday that production of the Cybercab was on track to begin in April. It’s possible these are early production units, with mass rollout slated to begin in the second quarter. He has also claimed in the past that a simpler manufacturing process would enable Tesla to build up to five million robotaxis a year, but as history has repeatedly shown, his bold claims should be taken with a grain of salt. 

The simpler “Unboxed” manufacturing process, however, is fascinating. Tesla has said that it plans to assemble different sections of the Cybercab in dedicated areas of the factory and then bring the sub-assemblies together at the end. This would reduce costs, require less floor space and speed up manufacturing, the company claimed. 

However, mastering this novel production technique is extremely hard. That’s why the early production rate for the Cybercab is expected to be “agonizingly slow,” Musk said earlier this year. Additionally, the company’s FSD software has a lot to prove, as the technology has come under scrutiny for its alleged role in fatal crashes, with several investigations by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

That said, it’s going to be a big year for robotaxis in the U.S. As always, we’ll keep a close eye on how that unfolds.

Contact the author: suvrat.kothari@insideevs.com