Tesla Sets Year-End Target for Cybercab Customer Handover
Tesla aims to begin delivering Cybercab units to buyers by the close of 2026 while keeping most vehicles in its own robotaxi network.
By Jennifer Paige ·
Tesla plans to start delivering its Cybercab to buyers before the end of 2026, a company executive said on October 21, resolving months of uncertainty about when the autonomous vehicle would reach customers.
Lars Moravy, Tesla’s vice president of engineering, said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call that the aim is to hand over units by year-end. He noted that manufacturing is active on the line at Gigafactory Texas, yet current output is being directed toward Tesla’s internal Robotaxi operation.
As volume increases, Moravy said Tesla will shift toward delivering fully autonomous vehicles to customers, with the Cybercab serving as the first vehicle in that category. Initial customer shipments will be limited in number as the company builds experience with delivery logistics, ownership structures, fleet oversight, and operating autonomous vehicles outside its direct control.
CEO Elon Musk described the Cybercab as a transport-as-a-service product rather than a personal car, contrasting it with models such as the Model 3, Model Y, and the upcoming Roadster. “The vast majority of the Cybercab stuff will be Tesla-owned and transport-as-a-service,” Musk said. The vehicle is a two-seater built without a steering wheel or pedals, relying fully on Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system, and has been in production since February. Early units entered Tesla’s Robotaxi service in early September, when rides opened to the public, and Tesla has previously indicated a price of about $30,000.
Regulatory hurdles remain ahead of customer deliveries. Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s head of AI, said during the call that unsupervised Full Self-Driving is expected to reach consumer cars in the second quarter of 2027, and that early buyers or fleet operators could receive vehicles whose autonomous operation is limited by geography while regulatory agencies catch up.
Looking ahead, the company’s year-end delivery target depends on production at Gigafactory Texas and on any regulatory constraints that could affect where vehicles can operate autonomously. Tesla’s guidance on unsupervised Full Self-Driving for consumer cars points to the second quarter of 2027, and the company has not disclosed how many Cybercab units would be delivered to customers by the end of 2026.
Source: Teslarati
