Tesla Cybercabs seen testing with steering wheel at Giga Texas
Tesla Cybercabs have been spotted being tested in increasing volumes at the company’s Texas Gigafactory, as spotted this week in drone footage from the Austin plant.
In posts on X and from a construction update video on Monday, Giga Texas observer and drone pilot Joe Tegtmeyer shared photos of the recently unveiled Cybercab testing at the facility. Interestingly, the photos also clearly show that the vehicle includes a steering wheel and human operator, adding to continued speculation that the Cybercab platform could be related to the company’s plans for a more affordable mass-market vehicle for consumers.
Tegtmeyer says it was tough to say exactly how many Cybercabs he was seeing, since they were constantly driving around the factory. He says that, at times, he saw at least three at once, though he estimates that there were more like five, and maybe even a few more.
You can see a few screenshots from the flight below, or watch Tegtmeyer’s full Monday update from Giga Texas below those.
Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer | X
Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer | X
Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer | X
Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer | X
READ MORE ON TESLA CYBERCAB: Tesla lead engineer: Cybercab has roughly half the parts of a Model 3
Tesla has seemingly also been ramping Cybercab testing at Giga Texas since its release, though this is the highest volume of the vehicles we’ve seen at the factory yet.
A single Cybercab was first spotted testing around Gigafactory Texas in November, just weeks after the vehicle was unveiled during Tesla’s October 10 “We, Robot” event in Los Angeles. In some of those videos, there was also a Model 3 following the Cybercab and a Lidar-equipped Model Y, presumably both to help validate testing on the Cybercab. However, these weren’t seen in the above testing from Tegtmeyer.
In December, one report suggested that Tesla would also utilize some kind of teleoperation measures upon first rolling out the Cybercab’s autonomous robotaxi services, at least initially, for the purposes of safety and redundancy.
What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.
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