Tesla's Steering-Wheel-Free Cybercab Spotted at Factory, Robotaxi Project Enters New Phase

Approximately 14 Tesla Cybercab autonomous ride-hailing vehicles recently appeared outside the Texas Gigafactory. These vehicles lack steering wheels and pedals and have eliminated external side mirrors, featuring a minimalist interior design and appearing close to their final production-ready state. Earlier prototypes used for crash testing had temporarily included steering wheels and pedals to comply with regulatory requirements, but the newly revealed units now reflect production specifications—including standard wheel rims and tire markings—indicating they are ready for delivery. From its inception, the Cybercab was designed specifically as a dedicated Robotaxi, intended for fully autonomous operation without any human intervention. Removing manual driving controls helps reduce costs, lower vehicle weight, improve interior space utilization, and enhance range performance. This development signals that Tesla has completed initial validation phases and is now advancing production according to commercial deployment standards. Under U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, vehicles without steering wheels are limited to an annual production cap of 2,500 units unless granted an exemption. Tesla is actively filing applications to seek relief from this restriction and may deploy these vehicles in an Austin pilot program or for additional testing and validation. Meanwhile, construction of the Cybercab production line at the Texas Gigafactory is accelerating in preparation for future scale-up.