Tesla To Start Selling The Cybercab Later This Year

Tesla intends to start selling its Cybercab vehicles to customers by the end of 2026. Lars Moravi, Tesla’s vice president of engineering, confirmed the goal during the company’s third-quarter financial results conference call earlier this week.

The plan comes after a year in which Elon Musk promoted the Cybercab as central to Tesla’s plans for the ride-hailing service. Currently, every Cybercab that rolls off the production line goes directly into Tesla’s own fleet of robotaxis, and none are delivered to customers.

Moravi told investors that current production is being used for Tesla’s internal fleet of robotaxis, while deliveries to customers remain one of the announced goals.

Paid rides on Tesla’s robotaxi service in Austin began on September 3rd, several months before this timeline for deliveries was announced. Tesla describes the first deliveries planned by the end of the year as “small”, that is, as a test series in which it wants to examine how vehicle ownership, delivery and fleet management will work after the cars leave the direct control of the company.

The Cybercab has not changed since it was introduced as a purpose-built autonomous vehicle with two seats and no steering wheel or pedals.

Fully autonomous driving still depends on software that Tesla has not yet released. Owners can subscribe to the Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system, which still requires the presence of a human ready to intervene.

Tesla’s AI chief Ashok Eluswami has set an internal goal of having a self-driving version of the system ready in the second quarter of 2027.

Musk has been open about what the company’s priorities are.

“Cybercab will primarily be offered as a transportation service, while our other cars will be more vehicles that you would want to own,” he said during a financial results conference call.

Thus, he directly answered the question about the ownership of Cybercab. Private customers who will drive their Cybercab themselves will be the exception, as Tesla first wants to expand its passenger network. Buyers hoping to park one of these cars in their driveway can count on only a small fraction of the vehicles being produced being destined for them.

Tesla has been working to get to this stage for years, with Musk describing a fleet of low-cost robotaxis as a key part of the company’s future long before the Cybercab had a name. The vehicle presentation confirmed that direction, and the financial results conference call clarified the sequence of planned activities: fleet first, followed by private customers, and in significantly smaller numbers.

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched an investigation after Cybercabs began plying Austin’s public streets. The agency has begun a review process to investigate why Tesla has certified that the Cybercab meets all applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards.

Specifically, NHTSA is investigating whether Tesla had grounds to declare certain federal standards inapplicable to a car without manual controls. Current regulations require equipment such as brake pedals and mirrors, which the Cybercab simply does not have.

The deadline by which Tesla, according to available reports, must respond to the agency’s request is October 30, 2026. NHTSA has proposed changes to the standards for unmanned vehicles, but those changes have not yet gone into effect. The existing rules remain in effect while the review process continues.

• Also Read: Tesla Unveils Flying Roadster With SpaceX Thrusters, Claims 0–60 MPH In Under One Second