Tesla appears to be building momentum for a major Cybercab announcement, teasing its plans on social media in the run-up to an event in Austin, Texas, where the company is expected to share more details about its driverless vehicle on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Tesla’s official X account posted a cryptic message—”no steering wheel, no pedals”—referencing its forthcoming Cybercab, according to CNBC. A second post urged riders to “try it out” in Austin, while CEO Elon Musk added a pinned post reading “A storm of Cybercabs.”
The social-media blitz came as Tesla’s stock jumped about 7% ahead of the event, signaling investor optimism about the company’s robotaxi ambitions. Tesla first unveiled the Cybercab design nearly two years ago, pitching it as a purpose-built, driverless two-seater with butterfly doors and no steering wheel or pedals.
Riding without a driver in Austin
Videos posted on X by New Street Research analyst Pierre Ferragu and Tesla fans on Wednesday showed Cybercab vehicles circulating on public streets in Austin with no steering wheel or driver on board, according to CNBC.
The sight of fully driverless Cybercabs marks a step forward for Tesla, which has been testing a version of the vehicle with human drivers and traditional controls in multiple U.S. markets. Bullish investors are betting the company is poised to unleash a wave of robotaxis across several U.S. cities, aiming to challenge Waymo’s early lead in the autonomous-vehicle market.
Tesla’s path to driverless operation has been long. Musk has promised since at least 2016 that a Tesla capable of driving itself across the country without human intervention was near—a feat the company has yet to achieve. Its current FSD (Full Self-Driving) system, marketed as “Supervised,” still requires a human driver to remain at the wheel, ready to take over at any moment.
Fleet numbers and regulatory hurdles
According to one Tesla Robotaxi tracker, Tesla has just over 200 vehicles in its U.S. fleet registered as “unsupervised,” meaning they can operate without a human driver in geofenced areas of certain cities. Those vehicles have logged trips in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Orlando, and Tampa, Florida, the tracker says.
The company also operates a separate, chartered rideshare service in the San Francisco area, called the FSD (Supervised) Rideshare service, which uses newer Model Y vehicles driven by Tesla employees using a version of FSD not yet available to the public. Riders can hail those cars via the Tesla Robotaxi-branded app.
Still, Tesla’s unsupervised fleet remains a fraction of Waymo’s. Alphabet’s Waymo operates commercial robotaxi service in 14 U.S. cities with roughly 4,000 driverless vehicles on American roads, and it is testing in additional markets.
Wall Street’s expectations
In a note ahead of the expected Cybercab update, Morgan Stanley analysts said a “meaningful rollout of unsupervised” vehicles could help Tesla’s stock “regain momentum.” Tesla shares are down about 21% this year as of Wednesday’s close, according to CNBC. However, if the event underwhelms, the analysts expect a muted or negative market reaction. Morgan Stanley has a $400 price target on Tesla and the equivalent of a hold rating.
“Continued growth in the unsupervised fleet (Cybercab or Model Y) is key for the stock to outperform through year-end,” the analysts wrote in a note cited by CNBC.
In Texas, public records from the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles show that, as of Wednesday night, Tesla had 45 Cybercab vehicles authorized for driverless operations in the state, out of 420 vehicles registered for such operations.
Tesla also faces ongoing regulatory scrutiny. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating the company in at least two active probes concerning possible safety defects in its partially automated driving systems. Critics have also accused Tesla of asking the NHTSA to redact far more information from its crash reports than other autonomous-vehicle companies, effectively hiding safety data from the public.
Source: www.cnbc.com — https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/03/tesla-teases-no-steering-wheel-no-pedals-ahead-of-cybercab-update.html
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. Do your own research and consult a licensed professional before making financial decisions.
