Yesterday, Tesla launched their first official rollout of their Cybercab at an event in Austin, Texas. While Tesla already operates Model Y-based autonomous robotaxis in the city, this is the first time they will be using their purpose-built Cybercabs for the job. And that is a big deal! This is actually the first time a car designed from the get-go for autonomous driving, not having conventional human-usable controls at all, has been deployed in any quantity on public streets, for public use, and that’s an impressive milestone. All of that makes it more baffling why Tesla would choose to highlight something about the Cybercab that it’s not really designed to do. And, beyond that, it’s just a confusing message.
I’ll explain what I mean. As part of their promotion of the Cybercab launch, they highlight the accessibility features of their robotaxis and associated apps and services, which is, of course, great. More accessibility for people with all kinds of specific needs is important. Here’s what the text says on Tesla’s website:
Making Autonomy Accessible
We are building an autonomous future that is accessible to all people. Our Robotaxi vehicles are designed to support various accessibility needs including space for service animals and room in the trunk to store some wheelchairs and other assistive devices. The Robotaxi app is screen-reader compatible and is currently available in 29 languages with more being added.
All of that is good: a big trunk that can hold assistive devices is welcome (even if it does come at the cost of a back seat, since these things only seat two people, which seems a little ridiculous, but, whatever, we covered that already) in a taxi, and the Cybercab absolutely has that. I mean, a Checker or Crown Vic taxi did, too, but whatever.
Anyway, that’s not the problem. The problem is with the video Tesla made to promote the Cybercab’s accessibility that’s on their website and, in truncated form, in this tweet (which, by the way, as of this writing has about 12 million views and over 1000 comments, so people are talking about this, it seems):
Cybercab is designed to be a great experience for every rider pic.twitter.com/wG0jrvJ6pX
— Tesla (@Tesla) September 3, 2026
Okay, see what’s going on there? There’s a pretty big and crucial omission in this little video. Let’s take a look:
Okay, so we have our man here approaching the Cybercab in his wheelchair. The trunk opens, so that’s nice. Then the scene cuts to some other dude walking up and putting a suitcase in the trunk, and then a guy on crutches approaches. Then, we cut to the crutches being placed in the trunk (I guess the guy hops as best he can around to the door), and then the suitcase gets put in, and then we see this:
Yes, it’s our friend in the wheelchair, only now he’s shown standing and loading the wheelchair into the trunk.
Huh.
Now, to be fair, we don’t know this guy’s whole backstory. Maybe he just has really nice new shoes he doesn’t want to sully on the filthy pavement. Maybe he has some more minor foot injury and doesn’t want to use crutches like the other guy. All of that is possible.
But when you show someone in a wheelchair, the thinking is generally not that the person in that wheelchair can stand or walk or fold their own wheelchair, lift it up, and put it in a car trunk. In fact, I’d argue that the opposite is usually the case.
I mean, there are special and very specific taxis designed just for people in wheelchairs, and they have special ramps and lifts so a person who uses a wheelchair can just roll into the vehicle while remaining in the wheelchair. You know, like these:
That is an accessible vehicle for a wheelchair user. The Cybercab? I’m not so sure. I reached out to someone who actually uses a wheelchair on a daily basis, and when shown this video, they responded, “How is this more accessible than any other normal car?”
This same person, when noting that the video on Tesla’s site is associated with the heading “Making Autonomy Accessible,” stated that “it doesn’t seem that way based on the video.”
She did also note that there are ranges of disabilities and some wheelchair owners could potentially stand and fold and store their chairs, but stated that wasn’t common and the car would still need other adaptive modifications to be actually “accessible.”
I think the biggest issue is that if you’re going to show a person in a wheelchair in a video promoting the accessibility of your autonomous taxi, it’s at best weird and at worst deceptive to expect that people would think anything other than the person in the wheelchair is unable to walk, or fold and put away their wheelchair.
Plus, this is a completely unforced error. No one forced Tesla to show a person in a wheelchair in a promotional video for the Cybercab. All they had to do was … anything but this. Nothing about this decision makes any sense. A wheelchair user traveling alone has less of a reason to seek an autonomous taxi, because the human driver of a conventional taxi can at least help the person into the cab and store the wheelchair, even if that cab isn’t a specially designed accessible taxi.
Tesla could have made this video and had the wheelchair user traveling with someone else, which would have eliminated this whole problem. They also could have made the Cybercab actually wheelchair accessible, but they chose not to do that. People have discussed this issue before. That’s fine, but that should at least maybe make Tesla consider not trying to suggest that this two-door, two-seater, low-slung vehicle is a good choice for a wheelchair user.
Why do they do this to themselves? I don’t get it.
Top graphic images: Tesla/X
There is an Optimus that comes with every Cybercab and helps the wheelchair-bound customer to fold their wheelchair (kinda like an exoskeleton really) then carries them to the passenger seat. (Optimus always takes the driver side). That’s your 1+1 math for seats right there.
All pretty elegant and practical I say, hat off to Elon.
These are the same people who though obscure door opening mechanisms in an emergency were fine. And putting EVERY control possible in a screen menu. And getting rid of turn signal stalks. So…..this kinda tracks.
There is an extremely good reason that the majority of autonomous taxis are designed as big boxes and not sporty two seaters.
I bet a case of beer and NY pizza that it’s AI generated.
Yeah, it’s pretty fucking stupid.
So can we talk about the pizza pan wheel covers now?
Did they get those at Williams Sonoma or Target?
> Why do they do this to themselves? I don’t get it.
Because Musk is a sociopath. He’s probably mocked disabled people with his former bff.
We’ve seen him at a n@zi rally, and we know their opinion of the disabled.
“Jason? He is a cuck!” – Elon, probably
“You don’t get it, Jason. It’s a magic car that cures disabilities. The wheelchair is going off the the recycling center, and the cab rider is tap-dancing home”
-Elon Musk, probably.
There’s a major Tesla location near me and I see these Cybercabs tooling around the roads and freeways pretty regularly and every single one has a steering wheel and exactly one person in it. I don’t know if they’re just driving around for testing or training purposes but they’re out there every day putting in a full day’s driving.
I’ve seen a few in my area, also with a person behind the wheel.
You can fold up a wheelchair and put it in the back. That’s the only claim being made.
I think anyone whose mobility is severely challenged will know they aren’t getting that chair in the back without additional human help.
Not that this excuses Elmo in any way, and I pray this fails bigly and I live to see him living under a bridge with a begging bowl.
Why not just come right out and tell handicapped people to F off, Elon? It goes right along with your favorite salute.
Anybody at Tesla? I thought they replaced everyone with AI.
Disingenuous loathsome company run by a sociopath. I hope they sell less than a couple of thousand of these POS. And lose a commensurate amount of money in the process.
Full Self Walking.
I thought the Zoox taxis with center facing bench seats was on the road in San Francisco. Makes so much more sense than an updated 2000 Honda Insight.
Yes, I’ve seen many of those Zoox driver-free taxis around San Francisco for a little while now. Look like a toaster on wheels.
I’ve only seen a Cybercab a couple of times, both were in the Bay Bridge backup and had a driver.
The Zoox also received NHTSA approval a week or so ago. The Cybercab (hahaha, sorry still can’t say it without laughing) does not have that approval, but that didn’t stop Tesla from deploying them yesterday. NHTSA is already investigating, but I don’t expect anything to come of it. Move fast, break things, ask questions later, pay the bribe, move on.
Jason Jason Jason as everyone knows no one really needs a wheelchair. It is used by two types of people. The first just too lazy to walk, the second gym boys on pecs, lats, and biceps day. Maybe some glutes as I’m not sure what any of these muscles do.
Yes I am kidding people
Tesla Cybercab, functioning as designed.
I’m 100% sure that Space Karen is an especially enthusiastic eugenics devotee, and that the Cybercab is deliberately designed to not to alter the population, but at least to deny it’s advantages to those deemed unworthy of continued existence.
Two seats, in sports car alignment and position, with relatively limited cargo space, make this obvious to all but the most child-like observers.
Space Karen hides behind his futurism, but it’s clear that his priorities don’t include ordinary people who have fitness and mobility difficulties.
(How much do you want to bet that even Optimus never gets heavy lift capabilities suitable to support the disabled?)
It’s also not surprising that a guy whose kids can’t stand him and who has no friends thinks a two seat taxi is a good idea.
I’m asking this as a legitimate question, even though I know there isn’t a reasonable answer; but how does this vehicle even make it to the road? Sure it’s (probably?) a model3 underneath, but it still took engineers and designers to actually make the thing. No one, not a single person, at any point said, “this thing is fundamentally stupid at its intended application,” and axed the thing? Sure the Cybertruck is also dumb, but at least it has 4-doors, and some admittedly cool engineering. This is a whole nother level or embarrassing.
It’s actually a new FWD platform!
Why does this exist lol? Now I’m even more confused
The strong suspicion is that it originated as the stillborn $25,000 entry level Tesla (often referred to as the Model 2), before Elon decided to scrap that idea and ordered it modified into a robotaxi, which he felt would be a sexier business
That is my suspicion as well.
(Even though it makes no sense as a taxi and just using Model Ys makes so much more sense.)
That actually makes a decent amount of sense.
Even worse the naming convention is ruined as well now that the S and X are gone. It was SEXY C.
What childish thing can he spell with the letters EYCC
YECC. Which is a great descriptor of how Tesla makes me feel.
he felt would be a sexier business
In spite of everything else, Elon knows sexy.
I strongly suspect that company “culture” (if you can call it that) at that place consists solely of the phrase “if you don’t like it the door is right there.”
I noticed that in the video Tesla doesn’t show anyone entering the vehicle. They also don’t show an open door or seating. In a video about accessibility. Hmmm.
I saw a video clip of Waymo’s new Ojai van-like taxi, which clearly shows how the doors open (dual sliding doors per side) and actual humans getting in. It’s pretty obvious which one will be easier for people with access issues to enter/exit.