Tesla targets Cybercab sales by end of 2026
Tesla aims to sell Cybercabs by the end of 2026, starting with fleet buyers, while most units will remain Tesla-owned and unsupervised self-driving is targeted for 2027, Engadget reported.
Moravy said Tesla is "trying to get Cybercabs to customers by the end of this year, 2026." He added that Tesla is already manufacturing Cybercabs at its Gigafactory in Texas, but those vehicles are meant for its internal robotaxi fleet. If Tesla succeeds in delivering vehicles to customers this year, it will start small and scale up sales as it learns about "ownership and fleet management of autonomous vehicles in customer hands," Moravy said. Elon Musk admitted during the call, however, that "the vast majority" of Cybercabs will be "essentially Tesla-owned" and will operate under its ride service.
Tesla first unveiled the Cybercab in 2024, but it was not until September this year that it began offering rides in the vehicle through its Robotaxi app in Austin, Texas. The company has also just started taking inquiries from those interested in buying units, specifically from entities that can help "build its robotaxi network," indicating that it will initially sell to companies able to purchase whole fleets.
Unlike Tesla's other vehicles, the Cybercab has no steering wheel and no brake pedals. It cannot be driven by a human and relies on Tesla's Full Self-Driving software. Because the Unsupervised version of the Full Self-Driving suite is not yet available to consumers, the first Cybercabs sold to customers cannot yet be added to Tesla's ride-hailing fleet. Tesla owners can currently get only the Supervised version of the suite, which still requires a human driver behind the wheel. Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla's director of AI, said during the call that the company believes it can start switching on Unsupervised Full Self-Driving on "some of the first customer vehicles to be part of the Robotaxi fleet" around the second quarter of 2027.
After Tesla began offering Cybercab rides in Austin, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a probe into the vehicles. The agency said Tesla self-certified that the vehicles comply with all relevant Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. NHTSA plans to examine the process and data Tesla used to self-certify the vehicles and determine whether they do indeed adhere to those standards, Engadget reported.