Tesla Cybercab test units spotted with Cybertruck steering wheels in Berkeley — and now New York

Tesla unveiled the Cybercab in October 2024 as a two-seat robotaxi with no steering wheel, pedals or side mirrors, pricing the production version under $30,000. The car already launched in Austin on Sept. 3 in its wheel-free configuration.

The vehicle first spotted in Berkeley was a different, pre-production unit. Photos showed a round Cybertruck steering wheel bolted directly onto an exposed steering column — the first clear look at how Tesla temporarily fits a wheel onto a body designed without one.

Similar sightings have since surfaced in New York. Gothamist reported spotting Cybercab test vehicles across multiple boroughs, each fitted with a Cybertruck steering wheel and a human driver in the seat — distinct from the driverless Cybercabs already operating commercially in Texas, and instead validating a 'supervised' self-driving system that still requires a human able to intervene at any time.

Tesla's official position remains that the production Cybercab will have no controls at all, and real-world test vehicles reportedly need a human-operable steering setup under federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS) for validation driving. With the same pattern now confirmed in both Berkeley and New York, this appears to be a standard part of Tesla's validation program rather than an isolated case.

This isn't itself a red flag for the robotaxi program. But it's a reminder that even Cybercab, whose whole identity rests on having no steering wheel, still needs a way for a human to take over during development and certification across multiple cities — a sign of how much validation work remains before full driverless operation.