Tesla's Cybercab has hidden manual controls disguised as a virtual joystick

Tesla's Cybercab may be engineered to run entirely without a steering wheel or pedals, but riders in the early weeks of service have stumbled upon something unexpected: a concealed manual control system accessed via an on-screen joystick interface.

The Hidden Interface#

Several passengers recorded videos showing a virtual control panel appearing in the lower left corner of the vehicle's display. The interface features a square-shaped overlay with a toggle for manual driving, directional prompts labeled "forward" and "reverse," and supplementary buttons for stopping, honking, and manually operating the doors. A camera feed display sits to the right, though in at least one recording the live feed appears stuck showing a Tesla Supercharger location from an earlier trip.

What It's Actually For#

These manual controls appear designed specifically for Tesla employees and depot staff who need to reposition vehicles in tight quarters—such as rearranging Cybercabs in a parking lot—without relying on remote operators or calls to Tesla's command center. This workaround makes practical sense for a vehicle intentionally stripped of traditional driving inputs.

In theory, the interface could also serve emergency personnel or law enforcement if a Cybercab needs to be moved from the roadway, though it remains unclear whether Austin police were informed of this capability during Tesla's briefing on the service.

A Bug in Early Testing#

When passengers who discovered the controls attempted to use them, they reportedly failed to respond—either because the feature wasn't active during customer rides or because the riders weren't operating them correctly. Tesla has likely already identified this as an early deployment glitch to address before expanding the Cybercab service more widely.

The incident underscores a tension in the Cybercab's design philosophy: while the vehicle embodies a vision of fully autonomous transportation free from human driving inputs, the practical realities of fleet management and emergency response still require a human override option.