Tesla's Cybercab sales plan

Tesla said Wednesday it will start selling its Cybercab to customers by the end of the year. The gold-hued, autonomous two-seater lacks a steering wheel and other traditional controls.

Current Cybercabs go to Tesla fleet

During Tesla's third-quarter earnings call, Lars Moravy, vice president of engineering, said Cybercabs produced today are all destined for Tesla's own robotaxi fleet. The company will scale as it learns about delivery and ownership.

Shift from software to hardware

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has talked for years about building a massive fleet of low-cost robotaxis by turning privately owned Tesla vehicles into self-driving taxis with a software update. That plan has yet to materialize.

Full Self-Driving timeline

Musk said Wednesday that an unsupervised version of Full Self-Driving would be rolled out to customers sometime in the second quarter of next year, yet another delay for Tesla owners who bought or subscribed years…

Cybercab as transport service

Musk said the Cybercab is meant to be a ride-hailing vehicle, not a car people own. The vast majority of Cybercab operations will be Tesla-owned and offered as a transport service.

“Cybercab is primarily going to be something that is offered as like transport as a service, whereas our other cars would be more, you know, the cars that you'd want to own, like the 3 and the Y and whatnot, and the Roadster, obviously.”

Federal safety investigation

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into the Cybercab just hours after vehicles began operating on public streets in Austin last month.

Safety standards mismatch

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards require manual controls like brake pedals and features such as rearview and side mirrors. Current regulations do not accommodate vehicles without manual controls.

Investigation could block rollout

NHTSA said it would investigate the Cybercab to examine the process and technical data Tesla relied on when certifying the vehicle. The outcome could affect whether Tesla can legally operate the Cybercab.