The Tesla Cybercab has no steering wheel or pedals, but it can be driven with a video game-style controller

By now you will surely know that Tesla’s big bet for the coming years is its first fully autonomous vehicle with no steering wheel or pedals, the Cybercab. The American manufacturer intends to begin selling this vehicle within two or three years, both for private use and for building robotaxi fleets that any citizen will be able to request from Tesla’s own app, much like an Uber, to take them from point A to point B.

Since its unveiling, however, some doubts have arisen about how the vehicle would be handled in specific situations. However well Tesla’s Full Self-Driving works, which is still to be seen, there are times when being able to drive the vehicle manually seems essential, for example to park in a very narrow garage space with a complicated access.

Fortunately, Tesla seems to have thought of this too. According to a report published in recent days, the Cybercab also allows manual driving, using for this a controller similar to a video game console. This information came to light after Tesla brought a Cybercab unit to the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California, for an exhibition.

What is that he is holding in his hand?

Some videos published of the moment the Cybercab was brought into the venue, performing the necessary manoeuvres to do so, show a driver in the seat guiding it up the access ramp and using a control device for this, which was essential given the limitations of Tesla’s autonomous driving software in indoor spaces. It has also been confirmed that this control device is fully wireless and can therefore be used both from inside the vehicle and from outside, within a certain distance of a few metres.

Remote driving as a last resort

Beyond this interesting information, it has also recently leaked that Tesla has begun the process of hiring robotaxi operators for its new Cybercab. These employees will act as remote operators, stepping in to resolve safety or navigation problems that the vehicle cannot solve on its own. This is a methodology that other companies with autonomous vehicle fleets, such as Waymo, also use.