Tesla said Saturday that more than 300 Cybercabs are now carrying riders in Austin, the first time the company has put an official number on the steering-wheel-free two-seater. The Robotaxi account on X described the fleet as an eightfold increase in 30 days, according to Teslarati, which reported the post. The announcement landed on Oct. 10, two years to the day after Tesla unveiled the Cybercab at its We, Robot event.
Ashok Elluswamy, who leads Tesla's AI software, added a hint about what comes next. "Two years since the 10/10 Cybercab We, Robot event, the cabs are everywhere in Austin now. Dallas soon," he wrote, in a post quoted by Teslarati. It is the first time Tesla has named another city for public Cybercab rides. No launch date was given.
What the numbers show
The 300 figure comes from Tesla's own social account, and the independent counts are lower. Texas keeps a public registry of automated vehicles, and Not a Tesla App, which follows that data, reported 169 registered Cybercabs on Oct. 2, up from 58 on a Monday in late September. Teslarati says Tesla added another 150 on Thursday, taking the registered total to 319. Registration is not the same as being on the road, and Tesla's own tally counts vehicles serving riders.
A community site that tracks Austin rides listed 275 unsupervised Tesla vehicles on Saturday, 105 of them Cybercabs, per Teslarati. That site can lag official numbers, and it only sees vehicles that show up in its sample. The gap between 105 and 300-plus is the main reason to treat the headline number as Tesla's claim rather than an audited count.
Cybercab counts, from the sources reviewed
| Date | Count | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Sept. 4 | 45 of 314 authorized Texas driverless vehicles | Engadget |
| Oct. 2 | 169 registered | Not a Tesla App, Texas data |
| Oct. 8-9 | 319 registered | Teslarati, Texas data |
| Oct. 10 | 300+ serving Austin | Tesla Robotaxi account on X, via Teslarati |
| Oct. 10 | 105 Cybercabs seen in Austin | Community tracker, via Teslarati |
The figures measure different things, so they should not be added or compared directly.
From invite-only launch to a fleet
Tesla opened Cybercab rides to the public in Austin on Sept. 4, a day after an invite-only event. At that point Engadget reported Tesla was authorized to run 314 driverless vehicles in Texas, most of them Model Ys and 45 of them Cybercabs. Riders cannot pick a Cybercab; whether they get one depends on group size and availability.
Tesla's Robotaxi page describes the Cybercab as designed for full autonomy with no steering wheel or pedals, bench seating for up to two passengers, a center touchscreen and trunk space for luggage, golf clubs and scooters. Tesla owns the Cybercabs in Austin and plans to sell them later, Engadget reported. They are not yet for sale, and Tesla is taking inquiries from people who want to help build its network.
Hours are growing too. Not a Tesla App reported on Oct. 4 that Austin's closing time moved from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m., so the service is still not around the clock. Tesla's Robotaxi page lists rides across Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Orlando and Tampa, but the Cybercab is, so far, an Austin-only vehicle.
What to watch
Teslarati notes that NHTSA has opened an audit query into how Tesla certified that the Cybercab meets federal safety standards, with sworn answers due Oct. 30. Tesla reports third-quarter earnings on Oct. 21, where investors will look for the next fleet figure and a Dallas date. Until then, the safest reading is that Tesla has moved from dozens of Cybercabs to well over 100 in a month, with the exact count still open to question.
