Changes Are Coming to Tesla's Cybercabs

For years, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has spoken about the company’s future involving autonomous vehicles rather than traditionally driven cars and trucks, to the extent that it’s had an impact on Tesla sales. This summer, Tesla took a significant step towards that future with the launch of its Cybercab robotaxis in Austin, Texas. Now, the automaker has given a sense of when the metaphorical training wheels are coming off — “training wheels” in this case referring to safety drivers and, eventually, steering wheels.

As Autoweek‘s Todd Lassa reports, Musk recently announced that Cybercabs would soon cease to have drivers on board in the event of an emergency. The change is set to take effect within the next few months; Autoweek also reports that the company has sought approval to operate in San Francisco without drivers on board. During the call, Musk noted that the Cybercab was “aiming for a gentle ride all the time.”

The next stages for Cybercabs, Musk revealed, involve an expansion of the company’s self-driving vehicles to more cities and the eventual removal of both steering wheels and pedals from future Cybercabs. He did stress an emphasis on safety, however, telling attendees on Tesla’s latest earnings call, “Even if regulators weren’t making us do it, we’d be paranoid about safety.” (That, in turn, is a good reason to mention the NHTSA’s investigation of Tesla and its Full Self-Driving software.)

How Seriously Should We Take Elon Musk’s Cybercab Promises?

Tesla has scaled back its ambitions before

During the earnings call, Musk also hinted at future system changes to Tesla’s systems, stating, “We’ll be adding reasoning to the car.” Among those changes are “improvements to the AI that are quite radical.

“This car will feel like a living creature,” Musk said. And if that sounds a little unnerving to you, it apparently does to Musk as well. He later mused that “it might almost be too much intelligence for a car.” If he is truly concerned about that, it begs the question of why his company is continuing to work in that direction — but predicting Musk’s next move is rarely easy.