From show car to real machine: Tesla Cybercab finally shows its numbers

© A. Krivonosov

Tesla Cybercab is slowly turning from a show car into a vehicle with real technical figures. EPA documents have surfaced its battery, power output and a preliminary range — the robotaxi can now be judged by more than just Elon Musk’s promises.

According to the regulator, Cybercab uses a 146 Ah battery at 326 V. Simple arithmetic gives 47.6 kWh of capacity, or roughly 48 kWh. For an ordinary EV that is a modest pack, but Cybercab is a two-seat vehicle with no claim to versatility. Its job is not to take a family on a weekend trip but to rack up city miles cheaply.

The motor has no sporting ambitions either: a single front permanent-magnet motor delivers 163 kW, or 219 hp. That is plenty for a light robotaxi, especially since the car will be driven by algorithms rather than mood. What matters more is this: in the EPA test cycle the calculated combined range came to 418.226 miles — roughly 673 km. That is a laboratory figure; after the standard adjustment the real window-sticker number will be lower. But the underlying efficiency looks strong, provided Tesla holds the weight and aerodynamics in check.

Cybercab was conceived as a fully autonomous machine without a steering wheel or pedals. Test cars have been spotted with controls, but the core idea has not changed: the passenger settles into a two-door coupe with butterfly doors, and FSD handles the trip. At that point the spec sheet fades into the background. The battery can be calculated, the power output can be certified, but the autopilot’s readiness for a mass driverless service is proven not by a table but by millions of safe rides.

Price is part of the intrigue too. Tesla has previously talked about a target below $30,000. If the company really can produce Cybercab cheaper than ordinary EVs and with such low energy consumption, the economics of taxi service shift: lower driver costs, less energy per mile, higher utilisation throughout the day.

Cybercab shows that Tesla is not building a «cheap small car» but a business tool. If the autopilot fails to mature, it will simply be a strange two-seat EV; if it does mature, a conventional taxi will become too expensive a way to move a single passenger.