Tesla put a steering wheel in a Cybercab - what's going on?

An example of the robotaxi equipped with a steering wheel has been spotted in Texas. Probably for testing autonomous driving

Tesla Cybercab with steering wheel spied in Texas Gigafactory

Photo by: InsideEVs

By: Francesco Barontini

Published by: Brian Potter

Jan 22, 2025 at 6:59am ET

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The Tesla Cybercab, the vehicle that will be used for the driverless taxi service, will not have pedals or a steering wheel. No, it will have them. Or rather, it already has them, at least on some examples. But what is going on?

The fact is that Joe Tegtmeyer, a Tesla enthusiast who often flies his drones over the Texas Gigafactory to spy on the projects that Elon Musk and co. are working on more or less in secret, has photographed a very peculiar Cybercab and put it on X.

You can drive it

The vehicle is framed from above, with the windscreen clearly in view. If you look carefully inside the cockpit, you can clearly see the top of a steering wheel. So some robotaxis can be driven by human beings. Why?

Why Tesla decided to mount a steering wheel (and presumably pedals) on a vehicle designed and presented as fully self-driving is unclear. Various interpretations can be found in the comments chasing each other around the web.

What do you think?

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More evidence of the Model 2?

One of the most likely hypotheses is that the company is carrying out some tests with the supervision of a driver who may be able to intervene in the event of danger. In this way, Tesla engineers can allow Full-Self Driving to improve through self-learning processes without excessive risk of collision.

There are also those who think that the Cybercab with steering wheel is further proof that Tesla's robotaxi will be used as the basis for another compact model (the Model 2) with affordable prices and the possibility of large volumes. But given all the rumours and denials surrounding this project, it is important to remain cautious.