Cybercab with no steering wheel or pedals at the Paris show; Roadster demo on Thursday

Tesla is showing the Cybercab, a robotaxi with no steering wheel or pedals, at the Paris Motor Show. It is not a mock-up or a prototype fresh from the design studio, but a car from the fleet that already serves passengers in Austin, Texas. Later this week the company has a second show planned: on Thursday in Texas it is due to present the Roadster, a sports car that was meant to enter production back in 2020.

A robotaxi straight from Austin

The Cybercab stands on Tesla's stand C25 in hall 7.1. A robotaxi is a car designed to carry passengers without a driver: it drives itself and chooses the route, and the passenger simply gets in and out. That is why the Cybercab has no steering wheel or pedals. The Paris car comes from the working fleet in Austin, but visitors cannot ride in it, as it is there purely as an exhibit. The show is open to visitors from 13 to 18 October.

FSD drives, but not approved in France

Instead of a Cybercab ride, Tesla is offering free test drives with FSD (Supervised) in six Model 3s. Each lasts 30–45 minutes. The word "Supervised" matters: the system drives the car, but the driver must monitor it at all times and be ready to take over. According to Tesla-mag, FSD (Supervised) is approved in eight European countries, but not in France. Drive Tesla Canada reports that an EU-wide decision could come in December 2026, though other sources have not confirmed this.

300 cars or 105?

It is unclear exactly how many Cybercabs are running in Austin today. On 10 October the Tesla Robotaxi account posted on X: "One month after launch, we've scaled to 300+ Cybercabs serving Austin – an 8x increase in 30 days." A community-run tracker, however, counted only 105 cars, Teslarati reported. According to Barchart and Autoblog, the Cybercab could reach Europe as early as 2027.

The Roadster is meant to lift off

On Thursday 15 October attention shifts to Texas. Tesla is due to show the Roadster at the SpaceX site in McGregor near Waco. According to Electrek, the empty car is meant to hover above the ground on cold-gas thrusters, which is why the demo can only be held outdoors. It was originally scheduled for 1 October but was postponed because of the weather. "Because this event can only be held outdoors, we've made the difficult decision to reschedule," Tesla wrote on X on 28 September.

Nine years of waiting

The Roadster was first shown in 2017, with production promised for 2020. Tesla now talks of 2027–28. Buyers paid deposits of $50,000, or $250,000 for the limited Founders Series. The next key date is 21 October, when Tesla publishes its third-quarter results. The Cybercab photo in this article was taken in California, not in Paris.