Following a prior downtown Austin sighting, two Tesla Cybercab prototypes equipped with steering wheels were photographed driving together on South Lamar on December 30, 2025. The images highlight ongoing public road testing amid debates on achieving unsupervised autonomy for the 2026 robotaxi launch, with Elon Musk confirming early production trials and an April ramp-up.
Images posted to Reddit on December 30, 2025, show two Tesla Cybercab prototypes driving in tandem on South Lamar in Austin, Texas. This is the second public road sighting in the city after a downtown Austin observation on December 21 and earlier tests at Giga Texas. The vehicles include steering wheels, a standard addition for regulatory compliance during engineering prototype testing with human safety drivers.
Unveiled by CEO Elon Musk in October 2024 as a steering-wheel-free autonomous robotaxi, the Cybercab faces hurdles with Tesla's supervised Full Self-Driving software. Tesla Chairwoman Robyn Denholm noted possible additions of manual controls if needed to meet regulatory or technical demands.
Musk posted on X that day: “Just testing the production system. Real production ramp starts in April.” This indicates initial manufacturing ahead of 2026, using AI4 hardware due to AI5 delays. Regulations cap low-volume exemptions for control-less vehicles at around 2,500 units, posing scalability challenges without FSD advancements seen in current Model 3/Y fleets.
