Despite being designed without a steering wheel or pedals, the Tesla Cybercab features a hidden manual driving interface on its center touchscreen, as revealed by a software display glitch. A passenger in Austin discovered a split-screen layout displaying a virtual joystick along with basic controls to steer, brake, toggle forward and reverse, and open doors. Tesla appears to have built this on-screen system as an internal workaround so depot employees and service technicians can manually nudge or reposition vehicles in tight spaces without needing external physical controllers.

The discovery comes at a delicate time for Tesla following the Cybercab's launch, as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an audit into how Tesla self-certified a driverless vehicle completely devoid of traditional physical safety controls. While an on-screen joystick offers an efficient fix for moving cars at crawling speeds in maintenance depots, it is locked out for standard passengers and serves as a temporary manual override rather than a regulatory substitute for physical steering hardware. Ultimately, the feature underscores the practical realities of operating an autonomous fleet, proving that human intervention remains necessary even in vehicles built to eliminate drivers entirely.