Tesla added its two-door, steering-wheel-free Cybercab to its robotaxi network on Thursday, offering its first rides to the public in Austin as the company races to expand its autonomous ride-hailing service.
At an invite-only event in downtown Austin, Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla's VP of AI, announced that the Cybercab was officially added to the company's public robotaxi fleet, which, up until now, consisted only of Tesla Model Ys.
"You can go outside, take rides," he said, closing out the Thursday keynote. "Anyone can take rides. It's open to the entire public."
Tesla didn't provide details on the initial size of the public Cybercab fleet. Records from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles show that Tesla has registered 45 Cybercabs as of Thursday.
The Cybercab is Tesla's purpose-built robotaxi that can fit two passengers. Like Amazon's Zoox, the Cybercab is not built with a steering wheel or pedal.
Videos posted online by Tesla influencers and content creators who were invited to the Austin event showed that the Cybercab can be hailed through the Robotaxi app.
In a video posted by David Moss, an autonomous-vehicle content creator, Robotaxi users could open the car's butterfly doors through the app. After the riders enter the car, the doors closed automatically, Moss said in the video.
The launch comes nearly two years after Tesla first unveiled the Cybercab at its "We, Robot" event in Burbank, California.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has pitched the vehicle as the company's answer to a low-cost robotaxi that can be produced at scale. Musk has said that the car will cost under $30,000.
Part of Tesla's goal is to allow consumers to buy a Cybercab while also integrating it into the Robotaxi fleet. Ahead of the event on Thursday, Tesla put up an online interest form where people can indicate their interest in "Cybercab fleet vehicle purchasing."
Tesla could face regulatory headwinds in order to sell a vehicle with no steering wheels or pedals for the mass market. While there's no blanket federal ban on such cars, Tesla would need to certify that the Cybercab complies with applicable federal safety standards — or seek temporary exemptions — before selling it to consumers.
A Tesla spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
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