Tesla Cybercab steering wheel dilemma gets final answer from Elon Musk

Max Headroom 2025.11.01 3 min read

Tesla Cybercab is the company’s autonomy-geared automobile that will eventually begin the phase-out of human drivers. In recent days, however, there has been speculation regarding the vehicle’s equipment and whether it would be fitted with a typical steering wheel and pedals.

CEO Elon Musk put an end to this discussion, at least for now, as he maintains the vehicle will not have anything that would remotely resemble any possibility of any sort of manual operation.

The problem is, there is a flaw in his logic, and his justification for the reasoning is an opinion. But Musk has a special ability; he has the final say on what goes on at Tesla, and if he does or doesn’t want manual controls in the new vehicle, he’ll get his way.

On the All In Podcast on Friday, Musk gave his final answer to whether the Cybercab would have a steering wheel or pedals by stating it would not when the production units start rolling off lines in Q2 2026.

He provided a further explanation:

“The reality is, people may think they want to drive their car, but the reality is that they don’t. How many times have you been in an Uber or Lyft and said ‘I wish I could take over for the driver, get off my phone, and drive to my destination? 0.0 times.”

Elon Musk says Tesla will NOT put a steering wheel in the Cybercab (via All In Podcast):

“The reality is, people may think they want to drive their car, but the reality is that they don’t. How many times have you been in an Uber or Lyft and said ‘I wish I could take over for… pic.twitter.com/SGu3to5anA

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Although the units that have been spotted on public roads in recent days are equipped with a steering wheel and pedals, it is because Tesla is testing the vehicle in real-world situations, and manual controls are required for it.

Tesla Cybercab spotted testing on public roads for the first time

Some Tesla fans in the community have said that the car seems more geared toward being suitable for manual operation as opposed to a fully autonomous vehicle primed for driverless ride-hailing.

Earlier this week, Tesla Board Chair Robyn Denholm said that if the company had to put a steering wheel or pedals into the Cybercab, it would.

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