Tesla Improvises With Cybercab Event Scheduled on September 3, Angering Its Loyal Fans

Earlier this month, Tesla teased a Cybercab launch event, promising that people who ride in the Robotaxi between August 18-23 could get a chance to attend. The carmaker has changed conditions several times since then, angering its loyal fans. The good news is that the Cybercab will make its official debut in the Robotaxi fleet on September 3.

On August 17, Tesla announced that a Cybercab launch event would happen soon, and people would get the chance to attend if they take a Robotaxi ride through August 23. What Tesla announced was a raffle, clearly stating that “more rides = better odds.” However, it didn’t announce the details, including how many riders would be selected.

Days later, we had our answer, although controversy arose. Tesla clarified that only five people would be chosen to attend via the sweepstakes, while the rest of the guests would be hand-picked. Tesla also opened the raffle to everyone who would send a letter by mail. The letter should contain a 3″x5″ paper with the full name, mailing address, telephone number, email address, and date of birth printed on it.

Tesla specifically stated that there is no limit to the number of entries. This prompted everyone to start printing like there was no tomorrow, hoping to increase their chances of attending the event. However, Tesla again changed the rules one day later, this time introducing a very bizarre concept: hand printing. That’s right, people were no longer allowed to print their letters; they should instead “hand-print” them “in ink,” whatever that may mean.

My guess (and everyone else’s) is that Tesla wanted the letters to be hand-written to make it more difficult for people to flood their mailboxes. However, it kept the “print” term to pretend that it didn’t change anything, so as not to make a fool of itself. Well, it managed to do just that, with cohorts of fans expressing their frustration on social media.

The sweepstakes results will be announced on August 25, but the other attendees who were chosen directly to attend have already received their invitations. There’s another surprise hidden in these invitations. Although invitees are allowed to bring a “plus one,” the invitation specifically forbids that this person be a content creator.

There’s no word on what criteria are used to distinguish a content creator from regular people, especially as everyone posts on social media nowadays. It’s even less clear how Tesla will tell someone is a content creator, but I suppose there’s a blacklist at the entrance. It’s not unusual for journalists from the so-called “mainstream media” to pay attendees to be their plus ones. Tesla clearly wants to control the narrative for this event.

The Cybercab event, scheduled for September 3, will mark the moment when the golden driverless car starts Robotaxi operations. Tesla has been recently spotted testing vehicles without a steering wheel in Austin, undoubtedly in preparation for the event. So far, Tesla hasn’t offered estimates about how many Cybercabs will be deployed as part of the initial phase.