Open Door: Tesla Brings Wheelchair Riders Inside The Cybercab To Shape Its Design

Tesla has been putting wheelchair users inside the Cybercab, and it says what they told the company is going straight into the car.

The company's Robotaxi account said on Thursday that Tesla hosted an Accessibility Day last week with members of the disabled community. "Their feedback goes directly into all Robotaxi products, including Cybercab and future products," the account wrote, adding that its purpose-built autonomous vehicles are "designed for everyone from day 1."

The photos Tesla released tell the story. Riders wheel up to the gold two-seat Cybercab, swing in through its wide doors and fold their chairs in beside them. One rider grips a handle above the door opening as she transfers into the seat. Others talk through the experience with Tesla staff.

The post drew close to 490,000 views and more than 5,500 likes by Friday morning.

The Cybercab has no steering wheel and no pedals, which frees up cabin space a conventional car spends on a driver. How that space serves a rider who uses a wheelchair, a cane or a guide dog is exactly the question an event like this is built to answer before the car reaches more cities.

Hours after the Accessibility Day post, Tesla shipped a fresh set of Robotaxi updates. Service now runs from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m., an hour later than the 1 a.m. close riders saw last week and two hours past the midnight finish of mid October. The app gained an improved arrow for locating the car, haptic feedback that buzzes to help riders find their vehicle, and music control through a phone's screen reader.

Other additions reach every rider: a live rear view camera feed during the trip, trip details that can be shared with a friend, a redesigned Live Activity, a Calm Mode that dims the screen and softens the cabin lighting, and Grok on the Model Y vehicles in the fleet.

The early response from blind riders is warm. A rider who is totally blind posted a video of a first Robotaxi trip on Thursday. "The app was totally accessible, the ride accessible, the drop-off accessible," the rider wrote. "It felt unusually normal!"

For a car that will never have a driver to lend a hand, that may be the highest praise there is.