AUSTIN — The gold-colored vehicles do not provide passengers with a way to take control in an emergency. An invitation-only launch event for the Cybercab service was held in Austin on Thursday. Tesla posted on X prior to the launch that the vehicles had no steering wheel and no pedals. Musk posted on X showing a giant Cybercab floating above the Austin skyline and wrote that there would be a storm of Cybercabs.

Tesla shares rose more than 5% on Thursday following the Cybercab launch. The stock fell nearly 6% to $354.08 on Friday, reversing the previous day's gains. Tesla started manufacturing the Cybercab in April 2026. During its unveiling, Musk said that the company would sell the Cybercab for less than $30,000.

Regulators have opened several investigations into the safety of Tesla's partial self-driving software in the U.S. One U.S. regulatory probe is examining the role of Tesla's self-driving software in crashes involving low-visibility conditions, including one fatal pedestrian incident. Another U.S. regulatory probe is investigating incidents where Teslas using partial self-driving software ran red lights or drove on the wrong side of the road. A third U.S. regulatory probe is examining why Tesla allegedly failed to report crashes promptly.

Tesla uses a camera-only system for its self-driving technology, while competitors Waymo and Zoox supplement cameras with radar and lidar. Waymo has more than 4,000 unsupervised vehicles operating in 14 cities. Zoox faced a regulatory probe three years ago after self-certifying its own steering-wheel-free cabs. Musk plans to send full self-driving software to hundreds of thousands of Teslas via software update, allowing owners to use their cars as taxis.

Why It Matters

The deployment of steering-wheel-free vehicles on public roads tests the limits of federal self-certification protocols. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is evaluating whether Tesla's Cybercabs comply with federal safety rules, but no specific hearing, meeting, deadline, or decision date has been mentioned in the available documents. This regulatory scrutiny occurs as public sentiment toward autonomous technology remains cautious.

A Pew Research Center survey conducted in February found that 70% of U.S. adults were not too or not at all comfortable riding in a driverless car. In the same Pew survey, 16% of U.S. adults said they would be somewhat "comfortable riding in a driverless car, and 7% said they would be" extremely or very comfortable. A Pew poll conducted in January found that nearly 60% of U.S. adults had a very or mostly unfavorable view of Elon Musk.

Timeline

Elon Musk deployed dozens of self-driving Cybercabs without steering wheels or brake pedals onto the streets of Austin, Texas, on Thursday.

What's New

Tesla has registered 45 Cybercabs as of Thursday, September 3, 2026, according to records from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. On September 4, 2026, Tesla started offering paid Cybercab rides to the public in Austin, Texas. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into whether Tesla's Cybercabs comply with federal safety rules regarding the lack of steering wheels, mirrors, and brake pedals.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stated it would conduct an audit to "examine the process and technical data" Tesla used in its self-certification of the Cybercabs. Tesla shares fell nearly 6% to $354.08 on Friday, reversing the previous day's gains. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an audit of about 1,000 Cybercab vehicles to assess how Tesla determined the cars comply with federal vehicle-safety regulations.