Tesla’s driverless Cybercabs just had their busiest weekend yet. With the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, gold two-seat Cybercabs and Model Y Robotaxis were spotted by the dozen on Sunday, October 25, carrying race fans to and from the track.
Tesla quietly got ready for race weekend
Tesla made no announcement, but the Robotaxi app changed days ahead. Early on October 23, @SawyerMerritt reported that the Austin service area now covers the area around the F1 track and that rides run until 1 AM, up from midnight. Rider screenshots showed a banner reading “Last call is 1am – Limited to nearby dropoffs,” Teslarati reports. Not every spot was reachable: some searches near COTA showed “Service blocked,” and one rider said the rideshare area was under a 20-minute walk from the front gate.
Robotaxis “as far as the eye can see”
On race day, @SawyerMerritt posted that more than 50 Cybercabs had been spotted dropping off passengers by early afternoon. Tesla’s official @robotaxi account summed it up in one word, “Swarm,” and Tesla AI vice president Ashok Elluswamy shared a photo of a long line of Cybercabs and Model Y Robotaxis near the track, writing “Robotaxis as far as the eye can see!” Overnight he added “A Storm of Cybercabs” over a video of the fleet heading back to base.
Teslarati says the tracking account Cybercab Spotter logged a record 1,250 Cybercab sightings in Austin on qualifying day, beating the previous high of 1,072 on October 16. Sightings count the same car more than once, so they show activity, not fleet size. For size, Texas’s automated vehicle registry listed 463 Cybercabs at midday Sunday, and @SawyerMerritt says Tesla is nearing 1,000 robotaxis registered in Texas, counting Model Ys.
What we still don’t know
Tesla hasn’t said how many rides it gave to and from the track, or whether the bigger zone and 1 AM cutoff will stay now that the race is over. On the Q3 call, Elluswamy said 2 AM service is coming “pretty soon” and that Tesla wants round-the-clock rides by year end. Cybercab is also due in Dallas next month, as we covered in our earnings call story.
What it means for Canada
There is no Tesla Robotaxi service in Canada, and Tesla hasn’t announced one. Here, owners use FSD (Supervised), which still needs an attentive driver. Still, the weekend matters: Elluswamy said on the Q3 call that the Cybercab and Model Y run the same software Tesla plans to release to customers with FSD v15. For now, the closest driverless rides on Ontario’s radar are Waymo’s Toronto plans for 2028.
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Sources
- Teslarati: Tesla Cybercabs take over Austin’s F1 weekend
- Drive Tesla: Robotaxi expands Austin service to COTA, extends hours to 1 AM
- @SawyerMerritt on X: service area now includes the F1 track, rides until 1 AM
- @SawyerMerritt on X: over 50 Cybercabs dropping off at the F1 race
- @SawyerMerritt on X: nearing 1,000 robotaxis registered in Texas
- @robotaxi on X: “Swarm”
- @aelluswamy on X: “Robotaxis as far as the eye can see!”
- @aelluswamy on X: “A Storm of Cybercabs”
- The Motley Fool: Tesla Q3 2026 earnings call transcript