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| Gold two-seater, no mirrors, dinner-plate wheel covers - a Tesla Cybercab. Image Credit: GROK From Prompt (2026) |
Gold Cybercab Ride Across Downtown Austin Delivers Smooth Uneventful Tipless Autonomy
A gold Tesla Cybercab pulled up outside an apartment in downtown Austin,
Texas. It found a spot along the side of the road, turned on its hazards, and
waited. A few minutes later a rider sat inside one of the first Cybercabs
available to public passengers, about to let it drive across town.
After rides in just about every major self-driving service over the years -
Waymo, Cruise, Aptiv and Tesla’s existing Robotaxi - curiosity ran especially
high about how the Cybercab would compare. That chance finally arrived.
The first impression happened before the car even moved. The Cybercab is a
small, gold, two-seat vehicle designed from the ground up for autonomous
transportation. Open the door and it becomes clear how seriously Tesla took
that idea.
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TESLA Cybercab two-seater interior with a proposed view - hands
and foot free - just ride and watch. Image Credit: GROK & GEMINI Compilation (2026) |
There is no steering wheel, no pedals, no gear shift, no side or rearview mirrors. There is not even a rear windshield. The dashboard as commonly known is basically gone. The interior consists of two seats and a giant screen in front. There are no physical buttons anywhere, with the exception of the button used to open the door. It feels less like sitting in a car and more like sitting in a personal transportation pod.
Getting it moving proved incredibly simple. The rider hit “Open Door” on the
phone, climbed inside and fastened the seatbelt. The destination was already
loaded into the system, so all that remained was to hit “Start Ride.” The door
closed and they were off.
Tesla stands out here. Enough autonomous rides have accumulated that the
novelty of being driven around by a computer has mostly worn off. Differences
between systems now stand out. Within a few minutes the same quality familiar
from Tesla’s other self-driving vehicles appeared: the ride is incredibly
smooth.
That smoothness has long been one of the biggest complaints about Tesla’s
competitor Waymo, owned by Alphabet. Waymos tend to be jumpy. They stop
quickly, accelerate quickly, and occasionally take turns faster than expected.
Their routing can be even stranger. Multiple Waymos have traveled down a main
road toward a destination, turned off into a neighborhood, woven through
several side streets, and eventually returned to the exact same road. Why
remains unclear. It happens often enough that a Waymo is almost never chosen
when a human-driven car or one of Tesla’s self-driving vehicles is an option.
The Cybercab felt much more natural. It took a direct route to the
destination. Acceleration was smooth. Braking was smooth. Turns felt normal.
At no point during the trip did the car do something that made anyone wonder
what it was thinking.
In fact, the most surprising thing about the first Cybercab ride was how
quickly thoughts of riding in a Cybercab faded. The entire experience was
pleasantly uneventful. Eleven minutes after leaving the apartment they arrived
at the destination. Quick, smooth, direct, and no forced conversation along
the way. That is an ideal ride.
Then came the favorite part of the morning. After feedback was submitted,
Tesla asked if a tip was wanted. The ride was great, so why not? One of the
suggested tip amounts was selected. After clicking, a hedgehog wearing
sunglasses popped up on the phone with a message. Of course, there was nobody
to tip.
TAGS:
#Cybercab, #TeslaAutonomy, #AustinRides, #Robotaxi, #SelfDriving,
#WaymoComparison, #GoldPod, #UneventfulRide, #NoSteeringWheel,
#SmoothAutonomy, #TheEDJE, #TIPLESS
