Tesla plans unsupervised Cybercab rides in Dallas in November
No exact Dallas opening day was disclosed
Tesla planned to open unsupervised Cybercab rides to the public in Dallas in November, giving the company’s next indicated Texas market a more specific timetable. The announcement, reported on Oct. 21, did not give an exact launch date.
As we reported Oct. 10, Tesla had previously said Cybercabs were coming to Dallas “soon” after its Austin fleet passed 300 vehicles. A separate Yahoo Finance report also said Tesla planned to launch the Dallas Cybercab service the following month.
Dallas would follow Austin, where Cybercab passenger rides began Sept. 3. Austin remained the only city carrying Cybercab riders, according to the report describing the Dallas timetable. Tesla said its Austin fleet had grown tenfold in roughly a month, while BaseNor put the fleet at more than 300 vehicles in under two months.
The Cybercab is designed for driverless operation rather than as a conventional car with a safety driver. Tesla’s September First Responder Interaction Plan, hosted on the Texas Department of Public Safety’s website, describes an SAE Level 4 automated-driving system designed to undertake the full driving task in Autonomous Mode. The two-seat vehicle is not typically equipped with a steering wheel, accelerator or brake pedal.
The plan says an unbooked Cybercab may roam within its operating area or head to a charging station or parking lot. In a connectivity or hardware problem, it is designed to flash its hazard lights and pull over at the nearest safe location. Tesla can also create a temporary first-responder geofence, normally covering 1,000 feet for about an hour.
The expansion comes as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration examines Tesla’s self-certification that the control-free Cybercab complies with federal vehicle-safety standards. NHTSA opened audit query AQ26002 on Sept. 3, the same day Austin rides began; Tesla’s response was due Oct. 30, and the report found no public outcome.
Tesla has set a robotaxi operating-cost target of 30 cents per mile, which is not a reported achieved cost. The Austin fare cited by BaseNor is $3.25 plus $1 per mile, putting a five-mile journey at $8.25 and a 10-mile trip at $13.25.