Tesla Begins Offering Rides in a Car Without a Steering Wheel

Tesla has begun offering rides in its Cybercab, a vehicle designed without a steering wheel, according to reporting by The New York Times. The vehicle is meant to operate without a human driver and represents Elon Musk’s long-standing vision of autonomous transportation. The initial offering is a step beyond demonstrations because it puts the vehicle into a ride experience. The report does not establish when the Cybercab will be broadly available or at what scale.

The launch comes against a mixed operating backdrop for Tesla. The company reported FY2025 revenue of $94.8B, down 2.9% YoY, with an 18.0% gross margin and a 4.0% net margin. Diluted EPS was $1.08. Those figures frame the Cybercab as a potential new growth avenue, but they also show that the existing business is not entering the test from an unpressured position.

The direct company connection is Tesla’s: a successful autonomous ride service could eventually add transportation revenue beyond conventional vehicle sales. Musk is the central executive tied to the strategy and its public vision. The steering-wheel-free design also makes the autonomy claim more tangible than a software feature added to a conventional car, although the story does not provide operating volumes, revenue, or deployment targets.

The main uncertainty is availability. Tesla has begun offering rides, but the report does not say when the Cybercab will be widely available. It also does not establish the regulatory, technical, geographic, or economic conditions required for a broader rollout. Without those details, the first rides demonstrate progress but do not yet quantify the commercial contribution.

The next evidence would be a dated Tesla update that gives deployment timing, operating locations, ride volumes, pricing, or production plans. Future company reporting should also show whether autonomous offerings are affecting revenue, margins, or cash generation. Until then, the key open issue is whether the initial service becomes a scalable business rather than a limited demonstration of Musk’s autonomous-driving ambition.