Tesla’s Cybercab makes its debut

Tesla unveiled its Cybercab in Austin on Thursday at an invite-only event, nearly a decade after Elon Musk predicted that its everyday cars were close to full autonomy.

The Cybercab is a two-seater matte-gold car without a steering wheel or pedals.

The launch marked the Cybercab’s official entry into Tesla’s robotaxi fleet, which otherwise consists of Model Ys.

Social media is already flooded with influencers and auto journalists posting their rides on the new taxi.

Analysts say the company’s stock performance hinges on fully autonomous vehicles.

The pivot is also necessary for survival. The automaker is betting on self-driving cars and robotics to overtake Waymo in autonomous driving.

But it is a tough battle. The Alphabet-owned company operates roughly 4,000 retrofitted cars across 14 cities. Tesla, meanwhile, has about 200 autonomous vehicles in Florida and Texas.

To lower production costs, the EV maker uses only cameras and neural networks. Waymo’s vehicles use the pricier combination of lidar, radar, and cameras.

It plans to expand its robotaxis across the US and has installed manufacturing capacity to produce over 125,000 Cybercabs annually. It says the car can soon be purchased for under 30,000.

However, the auto company has been named in several crashes and related deaths and is being investigated by the NHTSA for potential defects in its Full Self-Driving system.

CEO Musk originally envisioned that half of the US would have Tesla’s autonomous ride-hailing by 2025, with millions operating by late 2026.