Electrek Survey: Two-Thirds Skeptical on Cybercab — SkimNews

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- Electrek ran a sidebar survey with nearly 2,700 responses asking readers whether Tesla's Cybercab would transform mobility or be 'just another car' — roughly two-thirds chose the negative option stating it won't even be 'just another car' if no one can drive it and Tesla hasn't proven its AI can.
- Tesla re-unveiled the Cybercab in Austin, Texas during the survey week, offering limited invitation-only rides to Tesla influencers with what the article describes as varying degrees of success.
- The NHTSA opened a safety investigation into the Cybercab the same week the survey was live.
- Tesla's own data confirmed Autopilot/FSD was active in both a crash that killed a motorcyclist and a separate crash that killed a mother of five.
- Tesla settled a fatal Autopilot-vs-fire-truck lawsuit that week, avoiding a jury trial and further public discovery.
- Commenters repeatedly invoked Elon Musk's prior promises that Tesla owners could earn passive income by putting their Full Self-Driving EVs to work as robotaxis — promises commenters said remain unfulfilled.
- Electrek noted the conspicuous absence of 'die-hard true-believer Tesla fans' who usually dominate the comments, raising the question of whether broken promises and shifting timelines have eroded even core supporters' trust.
Why it matters: Among nearly 2,700 Electrek readers, roughly two-thirds rejected the transformative framing and cited Musk's long-standing but unfulfilled robotaxi promises — not this week's NHTSA probe or fatal-crash revelations. More striking than the vote itself: the Tesla superfans who usually flood the comments were absent, suggesting even the brand's most loyal readers are running out of patience.
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