Tesla's Robotaxi account posted "No steering wheel, no pedals," referring to the two-seat Cybercab designed specifically for autonomous driving, rather than modified passenger vehicles.

The company unveiled this design at the "We, Robot" event in October 2024. Small-scale production began at the Texas Gigafactory in February 2026, with vehicles without steering wheels appearing in the factory parking lot in April. A video released on June 30 showed production vehicles undergoing road tests in Austin, with a safety supervisor still seated in the right-side seat. Earlier Robotaxi services used Model Y vehicles with steering wheels, where the supervisor was also present in the vehicle.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposed that vehicles designed specifically for autonomous driving and never operated by humans may not be required to have brake pedals, with the proposal currently in the comment phase. Texas has received the Cybercab emergency response manual. EPA documents reveal approximately 219 horsepower and a range of about 418 miles. The central screen handles navigation and passenger experience, with no manual takeover components inside the cabin.

The production vehicles without pedals tie supervision to software: until the software achieves full reliability, the vehicles can only operate within geographic fences as demonstrations. The company aims for availability by 2027, with fence services already established in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, and other locations. Competitors like Waymo still operate fleets with steering wheels and remote assistance.

Removing the steering wheel is a hardware commitment, while the presence of a supervisor indicates that the software commitment is not yet fulfilled. The advertising slogan presents both as if they are already the same thing.

In market dynamics, buyers seek driverless transportation demand and valuation narrative funding, while sellers are OEMs using dedicated vehicles to lower unit seat costs. The driving forces are expectations of regulatory loosening and road test videos. Funding flows from the Robotaxi narrative premium to Texas production capacity. Beneficiaries include Tesla's narrative with established capacity, while the burden falls on safety teams that must prove no takeover capability outside the fences, as well as states still reviewing under human driving regulations.

Source: Public Information