Tesla’s long-promised Cybercab robotaxi is no longer just a slide on an investor deck. Multiple test cars have now been spotted on public streets in Texas, and despite earlier promises of a fully driverless pod, the latest prototypes are clearly running with conventional steering wheels and other human controls. The sightings turn an abstract autonomy debate into a very concrete question: what happens when a purpose-built robotaxi still needs a driver’s seat.
The images and clips show production-intent Cybercabs circulating in real traffic, mixing with everyday commuters while Tesla continues to refine its Full Self-Driving software. The hardware details visible in those sightings, especially the presence of steering wheels in vehicles that were pitched as having “no mirrors, no pedals, no steering wheel,” are now the clearest window into how far Tesla has come, and how far it still has to go, on unsupervised autonomy.
What the latest Cybercab sightings actually show
The most recent wave of Cybercab buzz started with short videos filmed from sidewalks and passing cars in Austin, Texas, where Tesla has concentrated much of its on-road testing. In those clips, at least two low-slung vehicles with the Cybercab’s distinctive silhouette are seen navigating ordinary city streets, stopping at intersections and merging into traffic like any other car. The bodywork and lighting signatures match what Tesla has previously shown as its dedicated robotaxi, suggesting these are not hacked-together mules but near-production prototypes.
Crucially, the camera angles are clear enough to reveal a traditional steering wheel inside each cabin. One Instagram reel describes how Two Tesla Cybercab prototypes were spotted testing on public roads in Austin, Texas, with visible steering wheels and other driver controls, and notes that the runs appear tied to Full Self-Driving development rather than a commercial robotaxi service. Another short clip frames the Cybercab as providing a smooth and safe ride while still acknowledging that, in these tests, a human can take over at any moment.
A purpose-built robotaxi that still has a wheel
From the start, Tesla has pitched the Cybercab as a clean-sheet robotaxi, not a modified Model 3 or Model Y. Company materials describe Tesla’s Cybercab as a purpose-built vehicle designed around autonomy, with the cabin optimized for passengers rather than drivers. The idea is that, once the software is ready, the car will operate as a driverless ride-hailing pod, summoned by app and managed as part of a broader robotaxi network.
That vision is why the steering wheels in the Austin test cars stand out. One Instagram caption underscores the tension by noting that Cybercab provides a smooth and safe ride and is designed to operate without pedals or a steering wheel, even as the prototypes clearly retain both. The contrast suggests Tesla is walking a tightrope between its long-term goal of a fully driverless cabin and the near-term reality that regulators and safety engineers still expect a human fallback.
Why the steering wheel matters for Tesla’s autonomy claims
The steering wheel is more than a cosmetic detail, it is a litmus test for Tesla’s confidence in its Full Self-Driving stack. At the Cybercab unveiling, Elon Musk told the audience there would be “no mirrors, no pedals, no steering wheel,” framing the product as a pure robotaxi that would never need a human to intervene. The latest sightings show the opposite: what is immediately apparent in the images is that these vehicles are equipped with steering wheels, a detail highlighted in coverage that notes What’s immediately apparent is the continued presence of manual controls.
That same analysis points out that Tesla has yet to solve unsupervised autonomy, even as it markets Full Self-Driving as a near-future reality. Another section of the report recalls how, at the unveiling, Musk said, “No mirrors, no pedals, no steering wheel,” but as the company moves closer to planned production, the Cybercab spotted in South Lamar still carries a wheel, a fact tied to the company’s Cybercab spotted in south lamar and the reality that current Full Self-Driving progress suggests otherwise. The hardware therefore reads as a hedge, a physical admission that the software is not yet ready to stand alone.
Austin’s streets as Tesla’s open-air lab
There is a reason so many Cybercab sightings trace back to Austin. The city has become a de facto test bed for Tesla, with its mix of dense urban neighborhoods, fast arterial roads and sprawling suburbs giving the company a wide range of driving scenarios in a single metro area. Reports describe how the Tesla Cybercab has been spotted testing once again, back on the streets and running on public roads in Austin, TX, with one account noting that the vehicle was seen in Austin, TX again today as part of ongoing trials, a detail captured in the phrase Back on the Streets.
Separate reporting describes Tesla Cybercab robotaxi prototypes spotted testing in Austin and emphasizes that posts shared on Reddit show multiple angles of the vehicles in traffic. Those accounts also note that Tesla does have driverless robotaxis operating in Austin, but that the broader autonomous driving sector is under intense scrutiny following several crashes, a context captured in the description of Tesla Cybercab robotaxi prototypes and the regulatory pressure around them. In that environment, keeping a steering wheel in the car is not just a technical choice, it is a political and legal one.
From early prototypes to production-intent test cars
The Cybercab’s journey from concept to street-legal prototype has unfolded in stages, and the latest sightings suggest Tesla is now testing something close to a production configuration. Earlier clips focused on rougher-looking mules, but the recent Austin videos show cleaner body panels, production lighting and consistent badging, all signs that these are not one-off experiments. One Instagram reel frames the moment by noting that in Dec, Tesla’s planned Cybercab mass production in April is approaching, which raises the stakes for whatever hardware choices appear in these test cars.
Other coverage reinforces that these are not just engineering toys but production Tesla Cybercabs hitting public roads again, with observers stressing how the vehicles look ready for assembly lines rather than just test tracks. A separate report on More Tesla Cybercabs Spotted testing on public roads in Austin notes that the Cybercab is a purpose-built robotaxi and that multiple units are now circulating, hinting at a broader fleet ramp. The presence of steering wheels in this phase, rather than only in early mules, suggests Tesla is keeping its options open right up to the edge of mass production.
Regulatory pressure and the need for human controls
Even if Tesla wanted to ship a Cybercab with no steering wheel, regulators might not let it. Autonomous driving test programs are subject to a patchwork of state and federal rules, many of which still assume a human driver will be able to take control in an emergency. One analysis of an earlier Cybercab sighting, which also showed a steering wheel, notes that Tesla is betting it will be able to make the vehicle “unsupervised” by the time it gets into production, but that current rules and safety expectations still shape how the company runs its trials, a tension captured in the line that However, Tesla is betting on future autonomy even as it navigates present-day oversight.
Those same reports point out that regulators have raised questions regarding autonomous driving test programs after a series of high-profile incidents, and that any company operating driverless vehicles in public spaces faces heightened scrutiny. In that context, keeping a steering wheel in the Cybercab prototypes may be less about undermining the robotaxi vision and more about satisfying current legal frameworks while Tesla gathers data. The wheel becomes a kind of regulatory safety valve, a way to reassure officials that a human can still intervene if the software misjudges a situation.
Elon Musk’s latest Cybercab promise
While the test cars show a cautious hardware story, Elon Musk’s rhetoric around the Cybercab has only grown more ambitious. Reporting on a recent update notes that Tesla CEO Elon Musk dropped a massive bomb about the Cybercab, describing it as the company’s future of transportation and emphasizing that passengers would have zero responsibilities within the car. The message is clear: in Musk’s view, the Cybercab is meant to be a fully autonomous pod where riders can disengage completely from the act of driving.
That promise sits awkwardly beside the very visible steering wheels in the Austin prototypes. On one hand, the hardware can be read as a temporary concession, a bridge between today’s supervised autonomy and tomorrow’s unsupervised robotaxi network. On the other, it raises the possibility that Tesla may have to ship an interim Cybercab that still expects a licensed driver in certain jurisdictions, even as Musk talks about a world where the car handles everything. The gap between those two realities is where regulators, investors and potential riders are now focusing their attention.
How Cybercab tests fit into Tesla’s broader robotaxi push
The Cybercab is not Tesla’s first foray into driverless services, and the Austin tests are part of a larger strategy to turn the company’s software into a revenue-generating platform. Reports on the city’s autonomous landscape note that Tesla does have driverless robotaxis operating in Austin, even as the Cybercab prototypes continue to run with human controls. That dual track suggests Tesla is using existing vehicles to validate its ride-hailing model while the dedicated Cybercab hardware matures.
At the same time, the company is testing in other tech-centric regions where early adopters and regulators are more open to experimentation. Communities like Los Altos, California sit inside a broader Bay Area ecosystem that has already seen multiple autonomous pilots from different companies, and Tesla’s Cybercab ambitions fit into that competitive landscape. The presence of steering wheels in the latest prototypes does not change the company’s end goal of a driverless fleet, but it does underline how much of that journey still depends on incremental, supervised testing in real-world conditions.
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