In Berkeley, a Gold Cybercab Test Mule Wears a Bolted Cybertruck Wheel

BERKELEY, Calif. - On a quiet street here, a gold Cybercab sat at the curb with its cabin partly stripped and a Cybertruck steering wheel bolted onto an exposed column. The photos, shared with Electrek by reader Adam Machacek, are the clearest look yet at how Tesla puts temporary controls into a car designed to have none.

This is an engineering mule, not a secret production change. The production Cybercab cabin remains wheel-free. The two-seater Tesla unveiled in October 2024 was built as a purpose-built robotaxi: no steering wheel, no pedals, no mirrors. Giga Texas has been rolling those wheel-free units off the line. When Tesla needs a human to drive a pre-production car on public roads for dynamics, durability, or data collection, it adds real controls. That is normal mule practice across the industry. The Berkeley car simply shows the hardware in sharp daylight.

Machacek's frames make the temporary nature obvious. The squared-off Cybertruck wheel sits on a silver column with panels off and brackets visible. The mount looks like an adjustable rail, the kind of fabricated rig you bolt in when the factory never planned a driver station. Through the glass you can still see the large central screen and the lounge seats that define the finished cabin concept. Outside, the car wears the gold wrap Tesla has used on other test units, a front "CYBERCAB" vanity plate, and a Texas manufacturer plate on the rear. Machacek told Electrek he was struck by how compact and city-friendly the proportions felt in person.

Keep the lanes clear. What riders hail unsupervised in Austin today is the production-intent Cybercab on the Robotaxi app: no wheel, no driver station, gold two-seater on the map. What parked in Berkeley is a road-test mule wearing borrowed Cybertruck hardware so a safety driver can steer. Depot software that lets a technician nudge a finished cab with an on-screen control is a different story. This tip is about bolted metal for driveability testing, not about glass joysticks or a claim that Cybercab "secretly has a wheel."

Tesla has shown wheeled Cybercab prototypes on public roads before. The news here is the clarity of the assembly: column, bolts, temporary mount, Cybertruck squircle. Regulations for testing autonomous prototypes on public roads generally require a human who can take over. Until software and policy fully remove that requirement at scale, engineering fleets will keep wearing temporary wheels. Production cars meant for unsupervised hail stay empty of that hardware.

For the brand, the mule is a confidence signal, not a contradiction. Tesla is stress-testing the same compact platform that underpins the robotaxi pitch: efficient shape, two lounge seats, big screen, city-friendly footprint. Machacek's aside that it feels like the "cheap" Tesla tracks with the long-running next-generation platform story. The gold wrap and manufacturer plates mark it as fleet hardware still in the validation loop, while Austin riders already call finished unsupervised Cybercabs on the live map.

Scene first, product clear: a gold Cybercab on a Berkeley curb, temporary Cybertruck wheel bolted in for testing, production cabin still wheel-free, Austin hail already unsupervised. That is the mule story.

Harper Quinn is a senior correspondent covering Robotaxi launches, Austin fleet ops, and the day-to-day of Cybercab rides. Previously reported transport and consumer tech for independent trade titles; based in Austin.