The purpose-built robotaxi had been spotted on busy South Austin streets since late December. Now, a video taken by Tesla investor Adan Guajardo has captured a Cybercab driving this week on Austin's MoPac Expressway, officially known as Loop 1.
The nighttime highway Cybercab sighting suggests Tesla is aggressively pushing forward with its newest vehicle.
In previous Cybercab testing, the vehicle was seen with a steering wheel and driver in the front seat, despite CEO Elon Musk's initial promise that the vehicle would be produced without a wheel or control pedals. The latest Cybercab sighting occurred at night, concealing any view of a driver.
It was likely driving at least 55 mph, the minimum speed on MoPac, and could have been traveling up to the speed limit of 70 mph. The Cybercab didn't face the challenge of wading through rush hour traffic but nighttime autonomous driving presents its own challenges, especially once vehicles travel onto roads with people and bikers. Automatic emergency braking systems have been observed to have poor performance identifying pedestrians at night.
Tesla has also stood out from other autonomous vehicle projects by avoiding use of radar and lidar, referring to such sensors as a "crutch" and relying instead on camera-only systems for driverless projects, including its Robotaxi service.
In early October, a Cybercab was seen on a test track at Tesla's factory in Fremont, Calif. Now, it has moved from a controlled environment to MoPac, a highway estimated to attract up to 200,000 cars a day.
The Cybercab is still expected to be produced sometime in 2026. Though originally announced to serve only as an autonomous taxi, company officials hinted in October that the two-seater could become the company's long-promised affordable EV option — and include pedals and a steering wheel.
Even if Tesla meets Musk's previously announced timeline, the vehicle will arrive during a sales slump for the Austin automaker, which lost its title as the world's bestselling EV maker in 2025. Last week, the company said it delivered 1.64 million vehicles in 2025, down 9% from last year. It was eclipsed by BYD, which took the title.
Tesla also faces increased competition in the autonomous vehicle space. Nvidia unveiled its new technology for self-driving cars this week, and it was quickly viewed as a competitor to Tesla's Full Self-Driving system. Still, Musk wished the chipmaker success, saying he's "not losing any sleep about this."
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