Tesla begins production of Cybercab autonomous robotaxi
Tesla announced it has begun mass production of the Cybercab, a fully autonomous robotaxi without steering wheel or pedals, at its Texas facility in April 2026. The company plans gradual production increases while conducting rigorous safety validation, though NHTSA is currently investigating Tesla's Full Self-Driving system used in 3.2 million vehicles for allegedly failing to detect road conditions and being linked to accidents.
What happened
Tesla announced on April 23, 2026, that it had begun mass production of the Cybercab autonomous robotaxi at its Giga Texas factory in Austin.
The Cybercab is designed without a steering wheel or pedals and relies solely on camera-based vision for navigation, contrasting with competitors' use of LiDAR and radar.
Reported impact
NHTSA is currently investigating 3.2 million Tesla vehicles equipped with Full Self-Driving (FSD), a camera-dependent system that reportedly failed to detect normal road conditions and was linked to multiple accidents.
Index analysis
Elon Musk stated that Cybercab production would start at "a very slow pace" with strict verification to ensure safety and prevent any accidents during Robotaxi expansion.
Competitors including Waymo and Zoox are already operating driverless services in multiple U.S. cities using LiDAR and radar in addition to cameras, while Tesla is pursuing a camera-only approach.
Governance controls
Tesla indicated that production would increase gradually and eventually exponentially, emphasizing that expansion constraints are due to extremely rigorous validation work and ensuring complete safety.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.