The Verge Rides Tesla’s Steering-Wheel-Free Cybercab as Paid Austin Service Begins

The Cybercab is Tesla’s long-awaited two-seater and is officially offering paid rides in Austin, according to the report. The Verge said the vehicle is gold-colored with Blade Runner–esque styling and dinner plate–like wheel coverings. The reporter rode within a roughly 288-square-mile geofenced area of the Texas capital last weekend. The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles says 45 Cybercabs are registered in the state.

The report placed the Cybercab in the context of Tesla’s autonomy push. Tesla launched its Robotaxi service last year with a fleet of self-driving Model Ys, to mixed results, while Elon Musk had for years hyped the imminent arrival of fully autonomous vehicles and argued that “going balls to the wall for autonomy” was an obvious move for Tesla. The Cybercab, an entire fleet of purpose-built vehicles designed specifically to offer unsupervised driving as a service, presents a potentially much bigger bet, The Verge said. At its best, the service offers one of the clearest glimpses yet of a near future where autonomous vehicles feel less like retrofitted versions of current cars and more like purpose-built autonomous lounges, free of steering wheels or pedals.

The Verge requested its first Cybercab ride from Tesla’s Robotaxi app around 6PM on Friday evening. The app listed an hour-plus wait time for a $15 ride under two miles, though the actual wait was about 45 minutes. The next two wait times were about 40 and 25 minutes, respectively. The car pulled up across the street from the reporter’s house, flashing under its front bumper to signal it was picking up a passenger.

The Cybercab lets users open its butterfly-style doors by tapping a button on the mobile app. The Verge said a handful of passengers have reported those same doors opening so quickly that they strike them, though the reporter never experienced that issue. The interior has a single row of two chairs separated by a cup holder, which felt spacious for public transit but cramped for a private car. Extra legroom where a steering wheel and pedals would be helps somewhat. The gray fabric interior is sparse and minimalist except for a massive center touchscreen.

That screen serves as a command center, showing a real-time 3D rendering of the trip, including surrounding cars and pedestrians, and is how the ride is started. Once rolling, it doubles as an entertainment hub. The reporter linked Spotify, Netflix and YouTube accounts and tested the built-in Arcade app with an external PlayStation controller, The Verge said. The first ride took about 15 minutes. Almost immediately, the windshield wipers switched on despite a sunny, 95-degree day, the report said. About halfway through the trip, the Cybercab crossed an underpass leading into downtown, a route the reporter takes almost every day; instead of staying in the lane to go straight, it switched, according to the account.

The Verge said the self-driving software did not feel as confident as one would want in a car with no manual controls. It described the behavior as more like a slightly stoned teenager, nervously braking, indecisively bobbing between lanes and seemingly second-guessing some decisions. The reporter also described feeling embarrassed while exiting a Cybercab as it partially blocked a narrow road outside a popular Austin swimming hole, with annoyed parking-spot hunters piling up around the gold two-seater. The report said an Elon Musk–shaped cloud hangs over every ride, attracting angry eyeballs and carrying the political baggage that comes with anything he touches.