Tesla Cybercab Reveals Hidden Virtual Joystick Despite No Wheel or Pedals, Using $99 FSD Tech
Updated
Updated · MotorTrend · Sep 8
Tesla Cybercab Reveals Hidden Virtual Joystick Despite No Wheel or Pedals, Using $99 FSD Tech
3 articles · Updated · MotorTrend · Sep 8
Summary
A Tesla Cybercab rider in Austin found a virtual joystick on the vehicle’s screen, exposing a hidden way to manually operate the robotaxi despite Tesla’s no-wheel, no-pedals design.
Video posted by Matthew Skrzypczack showed prompts to “Press and hold joystick” and “Swipe up or down to shift gears,” though the car never moved and he ultimately called Tesla support.
The joystick appears to be an engineering or service mode rather than a passenger feature, likely intended for low-speed repositioning inside facilities or near chargers.
Separate footage showed a Tesla employee manually nudging a Cybercab closer to a Supercharger after stopping too far away, suggesting the hidden controls are already used in real operations.
The finding adds a manual fallback to a vehicle Tesla launched in Austin this weekend as fully self-driving, using camera-and-sensor technology related to its $99-a-month Full Self-Driving system.