Tesla’s purpose-built robotaxi finally appears to have a launch date.
Elon Musk’s EV company posted a teaser on X over the weekend for an “Exclusive Access” Cybercab event taking place Sept. 3 in Austin.
The Musk-focused news site Teslarati also posted an invitation to what Tesla is calling the “Cybercab Launch Event.” The invite says guests will get the opportunity to “experience the future of full autonomy.” Electrek reports that the event is invite-only but will be livestreamed. The outlet also reports that Cybercab rides will soon become available through Tesla’s existing Robotaxi app in Austin.
The event comes as Tesla has been laying the groundwork to expand its year-old Robotaxi service. In February, the company posted a photo of what it said was the first production Cybercab to roll off the line at its Gigafactory in Texas.
The Cybercab is a two-seat, “purpose-built fully autonomous vehicle.” Since it is meant to be fully driverless, it has no steering wheel or pedals.
Amazon-owned Zoox also operates a purpose-built robotaxi that has no driving controls.
The lack of traditional controls makes the Cybercab an unusually light EV. Recent regulatory filings with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), first reported by Car and Driver, revealed that the Cybercab has a curb weight of just 3,113 pounds. For context, that makes it roughly 700 pounds lighter than the lightest Model 3. The filings also show that it runs on a single front-mounted 219-horsepower permanent magnet motor and a 48 kWh battery pack for an unadjusted 418-mile range.
The Verge reports that, after EPA testing adjustments, the Cybercab’s real-world range will likely be closer to 290 to 300 miles. The outlet also reports that its 165 watt-hours-per-mile(Wh/mi) rating would make it one of the most efficient EVs ever certified.
When Tesla first launched its Robotaxi service in Austin in June 2025, Musk told investors the company planned to quickly expand into California, Nevada, Arizona, and Florida. “We’ll probably have autonomous ride-hailing in about half the population of the US by the end of the year,” Musk said in a July earnings call last year. More than a year later, Tesla says Robotaxi rides are currently available in Texas and Florida.
Additionally, Electrek estimates that Tesla only has somewhere between 20 and 30 unsupervised vehicles operating at any given time.
For comparison, Waymo operates at 3,000 autonomous vehicles across more than 11 cities and completes more than 500,000 paid rides a week.
Still, there are signs Tesla is preparing to expand its operations.
Last week, the Nevada Transportation Authority approved permits allowing Tesla, Waymo and Uber partner Aviari to operate commercial robotaxi services in Clark County, where Las Vegas is located.
Tesla’s permit allows it to deploy up to 5,000 fully autonomous vehicles during its first 12 months.
On top of that, Bloomberg reported in June that Tesla filed plans with the city of Austin to expand an existing service center with a “robocar” wash and charging stations. The company has also submitted plans for a Cybercab car wash in Las Vegas.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Read the full article here
