Tesla’s Autonomous Cybercab Service Is GO!

Buried in the deluge of tech announcements at Tesla’s “Cybercab Launch Day” rollout of its newest product, a steering-wheel free, two-seat autonomous taxi, was the news that the service will be available to paying customers in Austin, Texas, as of Friday, September 4th, at 5 p.m. local time.

Prior to this, Cybercab rides were limited to Tesla employees during several months of testing around Austin and other cities in Texas and California. But for now, only the general public in Austin will be available to hail a Cybercab, via Tesla’s Robotaxi mobile phone app.

There are a few catches, however: Robotaxi service is limited to a discrete area encompassing downtown Austin. There is also no guarantee you will be able to get a Cybercab when you request a ride through the Robotaxi app. Per the San Antonio Express, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles has registered 420 robotaxis in Texas, of which 375 are modified Model Ys and 45 are CyberCabs.

How much will a Cybercab ride cost? We don’t know yet, but the answer seems to be, it will vary. “We also use dynamic pricing to balance supply and demand. As we add more and more CyberCabs to our network, our average wait times are going to get lower and lower and lower, largely due to dynamic pricing. And our pricing is going to be very competitive,” said Silvio Brugada, head of vehicle software for CyberCab.

If you’re in Austin and interested in going for an autonomous ride in a Cybercab, you may want to act quickly, as The Wall Street Journal just reported that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened a probe into the Cybercab to ensure that it meets federal safety standards.

Look for MotorTrend’s ride review of Tesla Cybercab early next week.