Tesla Cybercab Enters Production in Texas with Limited Initial Output, Offering Both Steering Wheel and Wheel-Free Versions

Tesla's Cybercab has officially entered production at its Texas Gigafactory. Built on an entirely new supply chain and manufacturing system, initial output is limited but expected to grow exponentially later this year. The first steering-wheel-free version rolled off the line in February 2024, and continuous production of both versions—with and without a steering wheel—began this month. The Cybercab was designed to fully comply with current Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) and entered the market through the same self-certification process used for conventional vehicles, without requiring any exemptions. As a result, it is not subject to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) annual cap of 2,500 units for autonomous vehicles. Vehicles already produced bear official federal compliance labels, confirming they meet existing regulatory requirements. This approach allows Tesla to bypass the pending SELF DRIVE Act; if Tesla’s self-certification holds, the legislation would have no impact on Cybercab mass production. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has positioned the Cybercab as the company’s long-term flagship model, anticipating that the vast majority of future production will focus on this vehicle. However, as of now, Tesla has not yet achieved reliable unsupervised autonomous driving capability. Musk stated that the unsupervised “Full Self-Driving” feature could be rolled out to users in the fourth quarter of 2024, though the software still has unresolved issues. Current data shows that Tesla’s supervised Robotaxi fleet has an accident rate approximately four times higher than that of human drivers. At present, the Cybercab is being used only in limited, geofenced Robotaxi pilot programs. Its real-world operational capability hinges on unsupervised autonomous driving software that has not yet been deployed. Additionally, since February 2024, the project has seen three key management departures, and none of the original project leads remain with Tesla across any of its current production models.