In 2019, Elon Musk promised a way forward for self-driving robotaxis. A fleet of 1 million automobiles could be accessible by 2022, he claimed.
That by no means occurred. Musk pushed the discharge date again to 2023, however that date got here and went, too. In 2024, Musk lastly revealed his design for an autonomous full self-driving (FSD) robotaxi, the Cybercab. However the Cybercab’s premiere date can also be versatile, with a generalized goal of 2027.
In current days, Musk has been slowly hyping up the expanded prospects of the Cybercab. Among the many heap of Musk’s X posts are shoutouts to evolving FSD tech. His new designs, just like the 2025 Mannequin Y, even have distinctly Cybercab-esque looks. The chatter is slowly rising round Tesla’s self-driving robotaxis; now, Musk simply must ship.
Whsipers of the Cybercab
Whereas the Cybercab is no less than two years from mass availability, there are whispers of the automobile in all places. That largely has to do with its FSD expertise, which Tesla has already rolled out in restricted options. The present model accessible has improved freeway autopilot driving, together with on- and off-ramp navigation and self-parking. However these instruments nonetheless require human supervision, and Tesla contends that their FSD instruments “don’t make the automobile autonomous.”
Nonetheless, Musk can’t cease posting about FSD development on X. On Monday, Musk posted crowdsourced information from Tesla’s FSD that confirmed vital development. The place Tesla’s earlier FSD used to achieve 85 freeway miles earlier than disengagement, it’s new system is now as much as 724 miles. “That is what exponential enchancment seems to be like,” he captioned the put up.
In an X Live final week, Musk was much more brash along with his promotion of Tesla’s FSD. Inside three months, he claimed, Tesla FSD security would surpass the protection degree of a human driver. The day prior, Musk additionally mentioned on X that Tesla workers had been performing autonomous FSD trials. The endpoint of those statements are clear: Tesla’s FSD is inching additional and additional up, and with it, the Cybercab comes into view.
The picture of the Cybercab can also be unavoidable. That’s as a result of Tesla’s 2025 Model Y copies straight from the Cybercab design, stealing the angular entrance and lightweight strip. All seems to be the identical—besides, in fact, that the Mannequin Y doesn’t have autonomous FSD.
Can Musk attain the end line?
Given Musk’s years of delays, it’s onerous to think about a Tesla self-driving robotaxi making all of it the way in which to the market. Believing Musk’s X chatter is its personal battle, particularly after the Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration asked Tesla to “revisit its communications” following posts that claimed their FSD might drive itself.
Some specialists worry about the safety of Tesla’s continued FSD strategy. There have been crashes; that preliminary NHTSA probe was prompted by four reported collisions, certainly one of which was lethal. And the NHTSA simply opened but another probe into Tesla, this time for his or her Sensible Summons function, which lets a person remotely transfer the automobile to a different vacation spot via their app.
Will Musk stick the touchdown along with his Cybercab? We’ll know in 2027—or possibly 2029, if he delays it but once more.
