US media: Tesla Cybercab will be released in Austin this month, but the safety of autonomous driving is still questionable

Comparing news, Tesla plans to publicly launch the driverless taxi Cybercab as early as this month in Austin, Texas. The model is designed without a steering wheel and no pedals. Currently, Tesla employees have tested a fully driverless version on private roads in the company park.

The report said that Cybercab is based on Tesla's FSD software, but its autonomous driving capability and safety are still being questioned. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is still investigating traffic rule compliance issues involving Tesla's FSD, and existing Robotaxi services are still equipped with human safety personnel in some markets. Cybercab, on the other hand, is designed to require no intervention from people in the car. Tesla plans to respond to emergencies through a remote operator, and has begun adding Starlink connectivity to the vehicle.

The size of the data is also an issue. Tesla said in July that it needed to accumulate dedicated driving data for Cybercab. Up to now, Tesla's unsupervised Robotaxi has traveled a total of about 380,000 miles in 6 cities, while Waymo has completed more than 220 million miles of fully driverless miles on public roads since 2020.

Additionally, Cybercab lacks traditional driving controls and may be restricted by US federal vehicle safety regulations. It is unclear whether Tesla is seeking regulatory exemptions, the report said. The Verge notes that as Cybercab nears launch, there is still a great deal of uncertainty about the autonomous driving safety and regulatory approvals required for its commercial operation.