OPINION · Opinion
Beat Uber to the Curb: Short Waits Are Cybercab's Quiet Win in Austin
On a Monday morning check in Austin, a Cybercab could arrive three minutes sooner than UberX or Uber Comfort Electric. Fares are closing in too. The next test is keeping those waits short as service spreads.
Harper Quinn, Opinion, Live desk
Published · 2 min read
Most talk about robotaxis centers on price. Riders also care about something simpler: how long until the car shows up. On that question, Cybercab had a strong Monday in Austin.
Shortly after 8:30 a.m., WorldlyReviewer, an X account that posts daily Austin price checks, priced a trip to a CAVA on Bee Caves Road. Tesla's Robotaxi app offered a Cybercab in 8 minutes for $10.55. A Model Y robotaxi cost two cents less but needed 18 minutes. On Uber, the Comfort Electric and UberX tiers each quoted 11 minutes, at $9.98 and $8.93. Robotaxi Radar, which tracks these checks, put Cybercab ahead of both Uber options that morning.
The afternoon was better still. At about 2 p.m., Cybercab came in at $9.15 with a 10-minute wait, cheaper and quicker than the Model Y at $9.88 and 17 minutes. Radar noted that Cybercab is usually either the cheaper Tesla option or the faster one. Being both on back-to-back checks was new.
The evening rush was a fair reminder that one day is not a trend. Around 5 p.m., UberX quoted 8 minutes and Comfort Electric 7, while Cybercab needed 13. On price, though, the gap was small. The Model Y robotaxi was $1.14 above UberX, and Cybercab $1.35. Radar said Tesla's rides carried a premium of two to three times UberX about two weeks ago.
Short waits come from having cars nearby, and the supply signs are good. A tracker of Austin traffic counted 2.2 Cybercabs per 1,000 vehicles on Sunday, up from about 1.3 a week before. Late on Monday, an X user who posts as SERobinsonJr previewed drone video of a Houston fleet lot with rows of gold Cybercabs, the picture at the top of this column.
Tesla is also staffing up. A search of Tesla's careers site shared on Monday by the X account teslayoda showed 21 openings for Robotaxi Fleet Support Specialists across 10 Texas cities. The list includes Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Fort Worth, along with El Paso, Lubbock, Tyler, Corpus Christi and Olmito, where Tesla runs no Robotaxi service today.
That is where the real test begins. A fast pickup in one city is a good start. Keeping the wait under 10 minutes in many cities at once, at prices close to Uber's, is the goal. Monday's numbers show Austin is close, and Texas is getting ready.
