Elon Musk Says Tesla To Begin Cybercab, Roadster 2 Production In April & More

While Tesla’s annual general meeting usually gathers tremendous attention—aside from the flair brought in by the company’s CEO, Elon Musk—this quarter's meeting drew a lot more interest as the company’s board of directors was set to officially approve the world’s biggest corporate pay package ever, dispersed to Musk.

The pay package could reach up to $1 trillion in company shares!

Over the past few weeks, there have been a lot of rumors flying around whether the pay package would be approved or not, and what the implications would be if it was and if it wasn’t.

Either way, the deal is now approved, and the uncertainty has been made certain—and in the shareholders meeting, Elon Musk revealed updates regarding the company and upcoming products.

For one, Musk said that Tesla is set to begin production of its much-awaited Cybercab—first announced more than a year ago during Tesla’s “We, Robot” event—in April at its gigafactory in Austin, Texas.

The vehicle will feature no steering wheel, pedals, or side mirrors, despite recent claims made by Tesla’s chairwoman, Robin Denholm, saying that the company might consider redesigning its Cybercab to include them.

“We’ve got the first car that is specifically built for unsupervised, full self-driving to be a robotaxi called a Cybercab—it doesn’t even have pedals or steering wheel [or side mirrors]” said Musk during the meeting. “It’s very much optimized for the lowest cost-per-mile in an autonomous mode and production is happening right here in this factory, and we’ll be starting production in April next year.”

Musk also claimed that the Cybercab’s manufacturing line would have a 10-second cycle time to assemble one vehicle, meaning that the company could produce 2 to 3 million vehicles per year—a significant increase from Model Y’s one-minute cycle time.

The company recently showcased the Cybercab at the China International Import Expo in Shanghai, marking its Asia-Pacific debut.

Musk also expects Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) software, its driver assistance system, to be fully approved in China early next year.

“We have partial approval in China, and hopefully we'll have a full approval in China around February or March or so,” said Musk.


In true Elon Musk fashion, Elon Musk said Tesla will reveal the production version of the Roadster 2 supercar on April 1, 2026, better known as April Fool’s Day.

The date was strategically chosen, as it would offer him “some deniability” if it was pushed forward.

“Like, I could say I was just kidding,” said Musk.

The second generation of the Roadster was scheduled to be unveiled before the year’s end, as per a claim made by Musk when he appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast. Interestingly, Musk has been teasing a new version for over eight years, following the first version’s release in 2008.

The new version “will be very different from what was shown previously,” sporting a demo that will be the “most exciting, whether it works or not, demo ever of any product,” as per Musk.

However, even if the April deadline is met, Musk says the vehicle won’t go into production for 12 to 18 months.

When asked if customers who coughed up $250,000 to preorder the “Founders Series” version (first 1,000 cars) of the new Roadsters in 2017 would be invited to the second generation's reveal, Musk said, “Sure, absolutely. It’s the least we can do for our long-suffering Roadster reservation holders.”

This included OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who recently posted screenshots showing his reservation, an email requesting a refund of the $50,000 reservation fee, and the email bouncing back, all with the caption “A tale in three acts.”

“I really was excited for the car! And I understand delays. But 7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait,” read a subsequent post.

This drew a retaliatory reply from Elon Musk, a taunt that read, “And you forgot to mention act 4, where this issue was fixed and you received a refund within 24 hours. But that is in your nature.”

This came in addition to another potshot that read, “You stole a non-profit,” referencing OpenAI’s recent transition from a non-profit to a for-profit company.

Do you think Tesla can capture a leading position in the electric vehicle (EV) and autonomous vehicle (AV) market with its new products, if they’re launched as per the promised timeframe?

Let us know in the comments below!