🚗 That Gold Car on I-5 Is Tesla's Driverless Cybercab. Here Is What It Is Doing Here

If you were on northbound I-5 this month and did a double take at a low gold two-seater with no side mirrors and smooth covered wheels, you were not imagining it. That was a Tesla Cybercab, the company's dedicated driverless robotaxi, and seeing one on a Puget Sound freeway raises a fair question: what is it doing here?

Start with what the car is. The Cybercab is built from the ground up with no steering wheel and no pedals. It was designed to drive itself and carry two passengers, and its factory gold finish is unique to this model, so a gold two-door Tesla is almost always the real thing rather than a wrap.

Here is the part that makes a Washington sighting surprising. Tesla's paid robotaxi service only went live in Austin, Texas on September 4, and fully driverless ride service is not yet legal on Washington roads. So this is not a taxi you can pull up and hail on the East Side or in the South Sound. A local sighting was also reported in West Seattle in early September, which lines up with what people are seeing on I-5.

So what is actually going on? The most likely answer is that these are preview or demonstration units, or cars simply being moved. The Cybercab has no wheel or pedals, but reporting shows a hidden on-screen joystick that lets a person nudge it around a lot, a depot, or out of a tight spot. In other words, you are getting an early look at where the technology is headed, not proof that robotaxis are running here.

Details:

• What it is: the Tesla Cybercab, a two-seat driverless robotaxi with no steering wheel or pedals

• Where it was seen: northbound I-5 in the Puget Sound area, plus a reported West Seattle sighting in early September

• Can you ride one here: not yet. Paid robotaxi service launched in Austin on September 4, and driverless service is not legal in Washington

• The tell: factory gold is unique to the Cybercab

Real estate note: part of what keeps the Puget Sound corridor desirable is that it sits close to the front of the line on new technology, from the companies based here to the roads that get an early look at what is next. A region that draws that kind of attention and investment tends to hold its appeal over the long run, and that steady demand is a quiet tailwind under South Sound home values.