Cybercab production begins, but Elon Musk says the start will be “very slow.”

Tesla clarified this week that the Cybercab has begun production. But how quickly will self-driving taxis be produced, and how many will the company make?

Thursday, Tesla posted on CEO Elon Musk’s social media site Xstating that “Cybercab is now in production at Giga Texas,” referring to Tesla’s factory near Austin, Texas. The post shows a shiny Cybercab rolling out of the factory and onto the streets. Then another came Share X from Tesla Robotaxi account A video showed a line of identical e-taxis merging on the highway.

It’s been two months Since the production of the first Cybercab car, and more than a year and a half since the production of Tesla Launched the first self-driving Robotaxi car In October 2024. At the time, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the production goal was 2 million e-taxis per year, or about 38,000 cars per week.

The world’s richest person was more moderate in his aspirations during that period This week’s Tesla earnings call For the first quarter of the year. Musk said the early stages of Cybercab production will be “very slow” due to the time needed to organize the supply chain and production. He said production would continue to “increase” and eventually “rise dramatically,” but added the caveat “as much as we can.”

“The limiting factor for expansion is strict validation, making sure things are completely secure,” Musk said. “We don’t want to have one accidental injury as Robotaxi expands.”

A Tesla representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

NHTSA is Investigation into 3.2 million Tesla vehicles With full self-driving driver assistance, citing concerns that the Tesla-based camera system fails to detect common road conditions that have led to several accidents. Tesla says its Full Self-Driving system allows the vehicle to automatically steer, brake and accelerate while a human is in the driver’s seat. A person can intervene immediately if necessary.

Currently, Tesla operates limited Robotaxi service in three Texas cities — Dallas, Houston and Austin — with the Model Y. These vehicles are self-driving but have a steering wheel and pedals. The company plans to eventually fill its entire fleet, in Texas and elsewhere in the United States, with cybertaxis. Which may not have a steering wheel or pedals.

The global driverless taxi market is expected to grow at an annual rate of 99%, reaching an estimated $147 billion by 2033. According to research firm Grand View Research. In the United States, Waymo – owned by Alphabet, Google’s parent company – dominates Services in 10 major US citiesincluding Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Phoenix. Zoox, which is owned by Amazon, operates in Las Vegas and San Francisco and plans to add Austin and Miami to its roster.

Tesla is far behind the competition

says Abrar Al-Hiti, a once-senior writer at CNET He took a ride in a modified Tesla self-driving car In vegas.

“It is a very competitive market that moves quickly,” Al-Hiti said. “There is still a lot of uncertainty and fear around Elon Musk’s approach to making the Cybercab rely solely on cameras for navigation, rather than a combination of cameras, lidar and radar like Tesla’s competitors.”

Autonomous vehicles currently rely on Three main technologies To identify their surroundings – cameras, lidar and radar. Waymo and Cruise rely on lidar, or “light detection and ranging,” technology, which creates 3D images of a vehicle’s surroundings. Radar, which has been around since World War II, uses radio waves that bounce off objects to determine their location.

Driverless ride-hailing vehicles are still a relatively niche market, but Al-Hiti says they could eventually dominate the taxi industry, although it may take several years.

“There are still many obstacles from a logistical, technical and organizational standpoint,” says Al-Hiti. “Not to mention the caution of many passengers and drivers who are not yet convinced that self-driving trips are the safest or most practical option.”