Tesla is taking a major step toward its planned Cybercab robotaxi fleet by launching a new testing phase on factory grounds, rather than waiting for regulatory approvals across the country.
An announcement on X from Tesla states that Cybercab employee rides are starting soon at Gigafactory Texas. The post showed a gold-colored vehicle autonomously picking up and dropping off employees around the factory campus, operating without a steering wheel, pedals, or any other human driving controls.
Cool news from Giga Texas pic.twitter.com/gvbG456Tzw
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) July 11, 2026
Positive Feedback From Internal Testing
While access is set to broaden to the general workforce at Giga Texas, executives have already been quietly riding in the two-seater. @EricETesla, Tesla�s Cybercab and Robotaxi Engineering Lead, shared his early impressions on X: �50 rides in over the last few days and I still never wanted to get out of it at the end of the ride.�
The Cybercab is designed from the ground up to be completely driverless. Inside the cabin, passengers are greeted by a 21-inch central touchscreen � the largest ever for a Tesla vehicle � used to control content playback, open the doors, and even tell the Cybercab to pull over mid-ride. There�s also a physical button on each door that doubles as an emergency release. It also appears you�ll be able to control vehicle functions directly from the Robotaxi app on your phone while riding a Cybercab.
This phased rollout echoes Tesla�s previous approach to Robotaxi services, starting internally before opening to the public. To enable fully driverless operation, the Cybercab includes a more powerful FSD computer than what�s found in standard consumer Teslas today and comes equipped with dual GPS for better position tracking to ensure precise navigation without human intervention.
A Stepping Stone to Mass Public Deployment
Tesla has been validating the Cybercab on public roads for months, even before it confirmed the vehicle entered mass production in April. More recently, Tesla began testing steering-wheel-less production Cybercabs in Austin, and regular employee rides will supply engineering teams with more data for fine-tuning and edge-case testing.
This internal program gives Tesla a controlled environment to refine fleet logistics and user experience before the purpose-built Cybercab replaces the Model Y as the backbone of the Robotaxi service. Once introduced, the Cybercab will become the primary robotaxi vehicle that Tesla deploys. After that, Tesla will likely use Model Ys only in markets that require a human safety driver behind the wheel or, as previously indicated, for rides with more than two passengers. With this step, a wider public rollout moves closer.
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