Tesla was right about Cybercab design as per new Waymo robotaxi data

[Redaktion]

The Cybercab has a rather quirky design without a steering wheel but with wireless charging, and is coming to public roads as part of the Robotaxi platform in 2026. One Tesla Cybercab design decision has just been vindicated.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Tesla-was-right-about-Cybercab-design-as-per-new-Waymo-robotaxi-data.1174205.0.html

[indyp]

Robotaxi would be the market leader then, right?

Its guess on cameras-only to reduce costs will ultimately bring it down.  Lidar is required for that last bit of safety.

It's an expensive Uber at this point.

[Weasel]

I keep hoping there's something here. I want to believe in musk. I used to believe. Now I'm not sure. FSD should have been here by now.  The robot looks like a problem. Only the charging tech looks great.  Huge lead is being chipped away. But still the leader right now. Someone tell me something to feel good about FSD 2026!

[indyp]

Waymo will eat Tesla's lunch on automated driving technology, which will eventually cause Tesla to accept lidar in their vehicles. Good news?

[StanIs]

Imagine posting brainless drivel like this while posing as a tech writer. First of all this cybercab rolling out in 2026 is a fantasy dream not an actual timeline just like every timeline ever not met by Tesla. Second, robotaxi is using safety monitors because FSD is a level 2 system and will remain this way for a long time....which is another reason this fantasy vaporware cybercab will not see the light of day in 2026

[StanIs]

Article from the same writer from 12/20/2024

"Tesla is training first responders for tricky Cybercab encounters on public roads
The Cybercab will launch in Texas and California first
Tesla is preparing to launch the Cybercab ride-share service next year when its unsupervised FSD gets approved by regulators, and has started with training first responders....."

How's that going because there's now exactly one month left in 2025. When is the unsupervised FSD coming out? When is the cybercab coming? Ridiculous

[DoomSwitch]

Honestly, what cracks me up about a lot of the anti-Tesla replies here is that they're arguing against a future that's... already in the rear-view mirror.

Waymo is proving that a high-cost, lidar + HD map stack can be made very safe (but not very comfortable or efficient) in tightly geo-fenced zones. Cool. That doesn't scale to millions of cheap robotaxis in hundreds of cities unless you're fine with "robotaxis as a boutique product." Tesla's entire bet is the opposite: minimal hardware cost, vision-only, and a massive real-world training set from a fleet that already exists. Just look at the recent videos of FSD driving confidently on snowy, unplowed roads with no HD map crutch — Waymo is nowhere near doing that. They'd have to ditch lidar and HD maps to even try to get there... HMMM. Funny.

This article literally shows why the Cybercab design choice is correct: if 90% of Waymo rides are 1–2 passengers and almost nobody sits in the front, then a small, steering-wheel-less 2-seater is exactly what the data says you should build. Complaining that it's "fantasy" while simultaneously waving around Waymo stats that justify Tesla's layout is kind of wild.

Yeah, Tesla's timelines have been garbage. That's a fair criticism. But "Elon is bad at dates" ≠ "lidar wins forever." Humans drive with vision only. There's nothing in physics that says a large end-to-end vision model can't eventually outperform a Frankenstein sensor stack that costs as much as the rest of the car.

In a few years, these "Tesla will crawl back to lidar" comments are going to read like the people who swore phones needed physical keyboards forever.