On March 28, Tesla officially announced that the Cybercab autonomous taxi will enter operation in Austin, Texas, USA in June this year.
The Cybercab is a new vehicle model specifically designed for autonomous driving by Tesla. It has no steering wheel, pedals, or rearview mirrors and was officially launched in October 2024. Musk once revealed that the estimated selling price of the Cybercab is less than USD 30,000 (CNY 218,000).
Previously, Tesla expected to achieve full self-driving with mass-produced models such as the Model Y in California and Texas within 2025. The Cybercab was not expected to be mass-produced and put into operation until 2026, equipped with Tesla's latest HW 5.0 suite. Currently, the mass production time of the Cybercab has been advanced compared to the original plan.
Tesla's early deployment of autonomous taxis benefits from Texas' lenient regulatory policies. In Texas, autonomous vehicles are not much different from ordinary vehicles. They only need to be registered and insured and equipped with technology to record potential accident data to freely use public roads. The US autonomous driving company Waymo also entered Austin in March this year to provide unmanned vehicle travel services.
