- Tesla’s first ‘Cybercab’ has rolled off the production line
- But its Robotaxi operation is crashing at an alarming rate
- Human drivers are safer, by comparison
Tesla has been celebrating a milestone this week, as the first production Cybercab rolled off the production line at its Gigafactory Texas facility.
The golden-hued, highly autonomous machine does away with a conventional steering wheel and pedals, meaning it is entirely dependent on software to navigate the planned routes in busy cities throughout the US.
But despite the posts from the company on X, continuous production of the Cybercab isn’t due to start in earnest until April this year, according to Electrek.
What’s more, Tesla has faced numerous hurdles with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) simply gaining intellectual property rights on the name alone.
That means the Cybercab might not actually be called ‘Cybercab’. More worrying still is new evidence that shows Tesla’s current Robotaxi fleet (you know, the one with a real driver on hand in case things go wrong) reported five new crash incidents in Austin, Texas recently.
First Cybercab off the production line at Giga Texas pic.twitter.com/kY8vCqtrCAFebruary 17, 2026
This brings the total number of incidents up to 14 since the service launched in June 2025 that, by Tesla’s own benchmarking, meaning its Robotaxi fleet is experiencing one crash every 57,000 miles, according to Electrek.
When compared to data from human drivers, who experience a minor collision every 229,000 miles and a major collision every 699,000 miles in North America, Tesla’s Robotaxi service is experiencing an incident four times as often.
Perhaps even more concerning is the fact that a report submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which is keeping a close eye on all autonomous vehicle projects, show that a July 2025 crash was upgraded from “property damage only” to “Minor W/ Hospitalization”.
Other filed incidents from Tesla include a collision with a fixed object at 17mph while the vehicle was driving straight, a crash with a bus while the Tesla was stationary, a collision with a heavy truck at 4mph, plus two separate incidents where the Tesla backed into objects (one into a pole or tree at 1mph and another into a fixed object at 2mph), according to Electrek.
These all reportedly happened during daylight hours and in good weather conditions, which hangs even more question marks over Tesla’s decision to tackle advanced levels of autonomous driving without LiDAR and other sensors, instead relying on cameras.
Running before walking
Although these incidents all (thankfully) sound like relatively minor collisions, the crash data submitted to the NHTSA is concerning. It is predicted that Tesla only has around 42 Robotaxis in relatively sporadic operation around Austin, but they are colliding at a rate that is worse than human drivers.
What’s more, Tesla is one of the only autonomous taxi services that redacts all of its crash information under the pretense of “confidential business information”. This means it is impossible to see who or what was at fault during the incident – whether it was Tesla’s autonomous driving systems or the safety driver’s failure to react in time.
By comparison, Waymo has submitted 51 incidents in Austin alone over a similar timeframe. But as of the last count, the company had covered 6.337 million fully autonomous miles in Austin, Texas, since launching the service in March, according to the Austin American Statesman.
It is predicted that Tesla has covered 800,000 cumulative miles… with a safety driver at the helm or a chase cart in position for safety reasons. In other words, hail that golden ‘Cybercab’ at your own risk.
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