Tesla's Gigafactory outside of Austin, Texas, appears to be gearing up for a big production shift to a new model of EV.
According to Teslarati, drone photos of Tesla Giga Texas from noted Tesla-focused drone operator Joe Tegtmeyer showed what appeared to be hundreds of castings of the new Cybercab EV. Tegtmeyer followed that up with a YouTube video going into more detail.
Lots of casting action at Giga Texas today where we see preparations for many hundreds of @cybertruck, Model Y & Cybercab castings ... here are some images showing the racks marked with the appropriate model, 100's of racks waiting for finished casting & many filled up.… pic.twitter.com/rnKY6G7Jn4
— Joe Tegtmeyer 🚀 🤠🛸😎 (@JoeTegtmeyer) July 7, 2025
The photos appear to show close to 400 castings for the Cybercab sitting in the compound, ready to begin the process of building Tesla's newest EV model. Tesla hasn't confirmed the presence of the castings on the grounds.
However, if they are what they appear to be, it's clear that the EV giants are prepping to start building their newest model for testing and a potential rollout, and at the very least, the images are fueling rumors that the company is doing just that. The Cybercab was announced in October 2024, with CEO Elon Musk touting the vehicle as a fully autonomous means of mass transit. In fact, the Cybercab is so autonomous that the design doesn't feature a steering wheel or pedals.
The presence of the castings also indicates that Tesla could be ready to begin rolling out the new cars on the streets of Austin. However, the move would likely come with some serious hurdles.
Currently, Tesla's testing of self-driving vehicles requires a human driver to be present in the vehicle to intervene in the event that something goes wrong. As one expert put it, "Tesla is splashing around in the kiddie pool, and everyone is asking where it's going to place in the Olympic swim competition."
However, the Cybercab would represent a massive leap forward for them; with no steering wheel in the vehicle, there may be no way or no foolproof way for passengers to intervene in the event something went wrong when staffed drivers are removed. This poses a serious risk Tesla is no doubt working on, given that the company's current rollout in Austin with driver-monitored self-driving cars has revealed some hiccups.
Even so, it's clear that Tesla is gearing up to start producing the Cybercab in earnest, and fans can expect something approaching a testing rollout sometime next year. If the company can pull it off, or if Google's Waymo or Uber's new Lucid fleet with Nuro tech can instead, the future could be bright for continuing to reduce pollution from rideshare transportation.
EVs also cost about $1,500 less per year to fuel and maintain than gas cars (thanks largely to fewer moving parts and no oil changes required), and with that plus drivers removed from the equation, getting around in cities lacking sufficient public transit could become a lot more affordable.
In the meantime, these test runs are critical to ensure that's done safely, but if the reports based on the images are correct, it sounds like Tesla is confident enough in the product it has developed to start producing them at scale.
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