The final days have arrived for the Tesla Model All bets are on Cybercab.

It’s been looming for weeks, but the end is near: Only a few hundred Tesla Model S and Model Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed this week in a post on X that orders for the Model S sedan and Model “All that’s left is some in stock.” books.

Musk first announced Tesla’s plan to end production of the Model S and Model X in January. Data helps explain why.

Sales of the Tesla Model Tesla doesn’t separate out S and X sales, instead grouping them under “other models,” a category that now includes the Cybertruck. These combined figures show S and

In other words, their death was inevitable. What comes next is a bit more complicated.

Musk isn’t filling the void left by the Model X and S with a traditional electric car; It has abandoned plans to produce a low-cost electric car that was expected to be priced at around $25,000. Instead, Musk is placing his bets on the Optimus robot, which has not yet entered production, and Cybercab, an all-electric two-seat self-driving vehicle that was first shown as a concept in 2024.

Tesla plans to build Optimus robots at its Fremont, California, factory once production of the Model S and Model Musk said Tesla will begin production of the Cybercab this month at its factory in Austin, Texas.

Look back

Model S and X EVs have taken a back seat to the more affordable Model 3 and Model Y. But its debut, and initial sales, were two defining moments in Tesla’s colorful and often checkered history. The Model S was launched in 2012 as its first volume of electric vehicles. Not only has its popularity changed the way consumers view electric vehicles, it has prompted legacy automakers — which have long dismissed the value of electric vehicles — to take notice.

The Model

“I think we got more carried away with the X,” Musk said in a September 2015 interview that this reporter attended just an hour before Tesla’s Model “I’m not sure anyone should build this car.”

The Model But she eventually brought the company to a new market: women.

The Model The Model 3 had a rocky start, but it ended up propelling Tesla into the mainstream. The Model Y clinched its spot, helping Tesla widen the gap as the world’s best-selling EV producer until China’s BYD took over the top spot for global EV sales in 2025 when it delivered 2.26 million EVs.

Tesla continues to sell thousands of Model 3 and Model Y models, but its growth has stalled, even reversed. The company reported in January that it sold 1.69 million cars in 2025, a decline for the second year in a row. Its efforts to boost sales with cheaper, streamlined versions of the Model 3 and Model Y introduced in October have achieved some degree of success, according to first-quarter 2026 numbers announced on April 2.

Tesla delivered 358,023 electric vehicles globally in the first three months of the year, about 6% more than in the same period in 2025, which was also the company’s worst quarter in years. This number was lower than analysts’ expectations of about 368 thousand.

But don’t bother with that. In Musk’s view — a view for which he has been well compensated — Tesla is not an automaker or a sustainable energy company, as he has previously described it. Tesla is a company working in the field of artificial intelligence, and his new maneuver is centered around this mission.

Cyber ​​cabin risks

The Optimus robot is part of Tesla’s artificial intelligence efforts. But perhaps Cybercab best exemplifies and exposes the risks of the company’s AI-first campaign.

Cybercab is designed to be used as a self-driving vehicle without traditional controls such as a steering wheel or pedals – meaning that once launched it will be without the initial support of a human safety operator.

The first Cybercab rolled off the Tesla factory assembly line in February, and should go into mass production this month. Although that date may be delayed, as has happened with many in Tesla’s history.

Unlike previous Teslas, the challenges don’t lie in producing them (who can forget the Model 3 production hell). Instead, it faces a major regulatory hurdle before it can get on the road. Federal vehicle safety standards place requirements on vehicles such as having a steering wheel and pedals. There is no evidence that Tesla has applied for an exemption, according to publicly available filings with the Federal Register and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The vehicles will also rely on Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software to navigate public streets and safely transport passengers to their destination. Despite improvements to the FSD and limited driverless robotaxi tests in Austin, Tesla has yet to prove that its software can work reliably at scale.

This piece requires more than just technical mastery. Robotaxi operations are also difficult. In states like California, they also need permits to deploy and collect ride fees in self-driving vehicles.

Zoox, the self-driving car company owned by Jeff Bezos’ Amazon, may end up paving the way for Tesla and its Cybercab. Zoox has received an exemption from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that allows the company to offer its specially designed robotaxis, which lack pedals or a steering wheel, on public roads. Zoox is now conducting a public process to expand this exemption to include commercial operations.

Musk tried to convince shareholders why the risk was worth it during the company’s earnings call in January.

“The vast majority of miles driven will be self-driving in the future,” Musk said at the time, later noting that the Cybercab is highly optimized for a minimum cost per mile and also for a much higher duty cycle. “I would say maybe less than that, I’m just guessing, but maybe less than 5% of the miles driven will be where someone drives the car themselves in the future, maybe up to 1%.”