Tesla quietly launches Cybercab, with only 45 units registered in Texas, its scale lags far behind Waymo’s.

Tesla held a closed-door event in Austin, Texas, U.S. on September 3, officially unveiling the Cybercab, a vehicle purpose-built for autonomous driving. The launch was not live-streamed and remained relatively low-key overall. Tesla has registered 45 Cybercabs in Texas so far, though it’s unclear how many will be deployed for commercial operation immediately. The Cybercab is a two-seater all-electric autonomous vehicle, with no steering wheel, pedals or rearview mirrors, relying primarily on 8 cameras and an AI system to enable autonomous driving. Tesla currently has 420 autonomous vehicles in Texas, while Waymo has registered 988 such vehicles in the state. According to Robotaxi Tracker, Tesla operates around 256 driverless autonomous vehicles across 6 cities, compared to Waymo’s roughly 4,000 driverless AVs in 14 cities. No consumer sales timeline for the Cybercab has been released yet. Tesla has opened registration for fleet procurement and related infrastructure partnership intentions. The launch is viewed as a key step for Elon Musk to drive Tesla’s transition from an electric vehicle maker to an autonomous driving and robotics firm, but it still faces significant challenges regarding expansion pace, regulatory approval and actual operational capacity.