Washington (United States) (AFP) – Tesla said on Friday that some customers will be able to buy its driverless Cybercab for personal use. The two-seat vehicle with no steering wheel or pedals was unveiled in October 2024 and has been deployed in some US cities as part of Tesla’s “Robotaxi” service. “Select customers are now being invited to purchase Cybercab for personal use,” the auto manufacturer wrote on X.
An image accompanying the post showed an estimated purchase price of $29,990, excluding taxes, and an estimated delivery date of December. The vehicle also requires a $299 monthly “autonomy subscription” and a $1,000 non-refundable deposit. Last year, Tesla debuted its self-driving cars in Austin using its Model Y SUV vehicles, with the Robotaxi service gradually expanding to several other cities in Texas, Florida, and California.
However, state laws require many of the vehicles to have a human supervisor or driver ready to take control if necessary. Waymo, the self-driving vehicle subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet, offers its services in 11 US cities. In September, US auto safety regulators opened an inquiry into Cybercab, questioning how Tesla concluded that a vehicle with no steering wheel, pedals, or mirrors meets federal safety rules.
Tesla has touted what it called the vehicle’s safety and ease of use for disabled people and said the Cybercab was “democratizing clean transportation for all.”
© 2024 AFP
