AIBRIEF
Tesla's no steering wheel Cybercab is running in parts of Austin. Its first responder manual tells crews to call Tesla, push the car, and turn the front tires by hand.
A Cybercab sits stopped in an Austin intersection with no one behind a wheel, because there is no wheel. Tesla's purpose-built driverless taxi is now running in limited areas of the city, and the people who arrive when one stalls have a new playbook.
The company's first responder manual, reported by Gizmodo after NBC News' David Ingram surfaced the document, treats the Cybercab less like a car and more like a piece of infrastructure that occasionally needs to be dragged out of traffic. The first instruction is to call Tesla so the vehicle can be moved remotely.
If that doesn't work, the manual gets physical. "In situations where there is minimal risk of fire or high voltage exposure and low voltage power is present, Cybercab can be quickly pushed in order to clear the roadway," it states. Crews are warned that "pushing Cybercab when it is not in Neutral or Tow Mode can result in overheating the motor and potential risk of shock if electrical components are exposed."
To finish the job, the manual adds: "If necessary, manually turn the front tires by hand to help position the vehicle." A fully powered-down Cybercab becomes a "giant brick" that requires a machine to move, because rotating the wheels can spin the motors and create a new hazard.
Austin is the first city where vehicles with no steering wheel and no pedals operate in public service. The manual is the first look at what happens when one of them stops moving on its own.