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Tesla Robotaxi patent teases automatic sanitation system
A Tesla Robotaxi patent teased the company’s efforts to develop an automatic sanitation system. The international filing date for the Tesla Robotaxi patent is February 21, 2023.
Throughout the Tesla patent are clues that suggest the automatic sanitation system is for the company’s upcoming Robotaxi fleet, which will comprise Tesla Cybercabs.
Figure 5 in the patent depicts a vehicle with a similar outline to the Tesla Cybercab teased in some of the company’s past content. The patent’s abstract also suggests that the automatic sanitation system will be for vehicles “shared among multiple persons.”
The Tesla Robotaxi patent states that sensors will be used to detect the temperature, humidity, and presence of pathogens within a vehicle.
“The sanitation system then obtains and generates a sanitation routine based at least in part on the sensor data. Based on the sanitation routine, the sanitation system causes a component associated with the enclosed space to adjust the current environmental condition toward a target environmental condition, where the sanitation routine specifies the component and the target environmental condition,” states the Tesla patent’s abstract.
This technology can provide the following benefits to Tesla's robotaxi service, scheduled to be unveiled on 8/8:
✅ Passenger safety: Automatically sanitizing the vehicle interior between each ride reduces the risk of pathogen transmission.
✅ Efficient operation: Maintaining…— SETI Park (@seti_park) June 30, 2024
Patent researcher SETI Park listed the benefits of Tesla’s potential automatic sanitation system, concluding that it will play a significant role in Tesla’s Robotaxi ride-hailing service.
“In conclusion, this patent is likely to be a key technology for Tesla’s robotaxi service. Furthermore, this technology will not only benefit vehicle sharing but also provide convenience to vehicle owners and operators, thereby enhancing the value of Tesla vehicles and improving the user experience,” said SETI Park on X.
Tesla plans to unveil its Robotaxi fleet vehicle, the Cybercab, on August 8, 2024. The Cybercab’s design will be inspired by the Cybertruck. Originally, Elon Musk stated that Tesla’s $25,000 vehicle, the Model 2 or Model Q, would be used in its Robotaxi fleet.
The Cybercab is expected to be a fully autonomous vehicle without a steering wheel, unlike the highly anticipated Model 2, which is expected to have one. In May, Tesla released a video on X that provided a glimpse of the Cybercab’s design without a steering wheel.
Read the full patent below.
Tesla Robotaxi Patent Tease… by Maria Merano
If you have any tips, contact me at maria@teslarati.com or via X @Writer_01001101.
News
Tesla Cybercab sightings on public roads are becoming more frequent
After it was unveiled a year ago by Tesla, the company has made some pretty drastic jumps in progress in terms of the Cybercab, but a recent development has truly pushed fans of the company to think it is probably going to be available soon.
Tesla Cybercab sightings on public roads are becoming much more frequent, and they all are pointing to one thing: imminent production.
The Tesla Cybercab is the company’s vehicle developed for fully autonomous travel, as it will be manufactured without a steering wheel or pedals, according to CEO Elon Musk.
Tesla Robotaxi Cybercab: Seats, price, special features, release date, and more
After it was unveiled a year ago by Tesla, the company has made some pretty drastic jumps in progress in terms of the Cybercab, but a recent development has truly pushed fans of the company to think it is probably going to be available soon.
Last week, we reported on the first Cybercab sighting when the vehicle was finally being tested on public roads. The spotting was not a one-time deal, as we are now seeing many more sightings on public roads:
Saw it the other day pic.twitter.com/uv0geR6GIh
— Shareef Mahmoud (@saltyyshareef) November 6, 2025
The first spotting was in Palo Alto, just a few blocks from Tesla’s Engineering Headquarters in Los Altos. This second sighting appears to be relatively close to that first spotting, and it seems unlikely Tesla would be putting it on roads much further than that.
The public on-road testing of the Cybercab marks a major milestone in the entire project for Tesla. These early sightings and testing phases are usually followed by a lot of speculation about when the vehicle could end up in the hands of customers.
However, Tesla has already put a definitive date on when Cybercab production will begin, as Elon Musk said during the Q3 Earnings Call that it would roll off production lines in Q2 of next year.
But the speculation regarding the Cybercab is slightly different than other vehicles because Tesla has been developing it for fully autonomous travel; it’s not meant to be driven by humans but instead by software and the company’s Full Self-Driving suite.
Despite the vehicle being spotted with a steering wheel and pedals in the recent sightings, Musk has maintained that the Cybercab will not be developed with typical controls for a human. He recently confirmed this, and it does not seem the company is willing to veer too much from its plans for an autonomous car.
News
Tesla Model Y Performance is rapidly moving toward customer deliveries
New drone images from noted drone operator and Gigafactory Texas observer Joe Tegtmeyer show Tesla is moving forward quickly in terms of its progress in producing the new Model Y Performance.
Tesla has rapidly progressed in the production of its most anticipated Model Y trim level: the Model Y Performance.
New drone images from noted drone operator and Gigafactory Texas observer Joe Tegtmeyer show Tesla is moving forward quickly in terms of its progress in producing the new Model Y Performance.
The vehicle is being spotted more frequently at the factory located just outside of Austin, with what appears to be the first units rolling out to outbound lots:
In case you missed the news, Giga Texas has begun Model Y Performance production. Now all variants of the Model Y (except the China-only YL) are built in Texas. pic.twitter.com/AOOB9jtLwN
— Joe Tegtmeyer 🚀 🤠🛸😎 (@JoeTegtmeyer) November 6, 2025
In the United States, Tesla unveiled the Model Y Performance on September 30, the newest iteration of the fastest trim level of the best-selling car in the world for the past two years. It was launched on the very last day of the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit in the United States.
It featured a handful of performance improvements, including a 0-60 MPH acceleration rate of 3.3 seconds, a trim from the 3.5 seconds the 2025 version offered.
Additionally, the range has gone from 277 miles to 308 miles, a notable improvement in terms of how far it can travel on a charge.
There are also a handful of hardware changes that Tesla made to improve its aerodynamic performance, which all likely can be attributed to the boost in speed and acceleration, as well as range.
The vehicle was initially launched in Europe, which was not surprising, especially as Tesla was testing the new Performance trim at the famed Nurburgring in Germany.
Deliveries are currently slated for late November, but some orders are getting projections of mid-December for their Model Y Performance, which would help Tesla bolster its end-of-year delivery figures and follow up on an extremely bullish finish to Q3, which was the company’s strongest performance in history.
Elon Musk
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey endorses Elon Musk Tesla pay package
Dorsey framed the pay package as an engineering and governance crossroads for Tesla.
Twitter co-founder and Square CEO Jack Dorsey has publicly backed Elon Musk’s leadership ahead of Tesla’s pivotal shareholder vote, which is expected to be decided later today at the company’s 2025 annual meeting.
Dorsey framed the pay package as an engineering and governance crossroads for Tesla.
Dorsey’s public nod framed as an engineering defense of Musk
In a post on X, Dorsey weighed in on Tesla’s post about being in a “critical inflection point.” As per the Twitter-co-founder, the vote on Musk’s 2025 performance award is not about compensation. Instead, it’s about ensuring the path for the company’s engineering in the coming years.
“This is not about compensation. it’s about ensuring a principled (and exciting!) engineering approach to the company’s future,” Dorsey wrote on his post, later stating that users of Cash app with TSLA shares would be able to vote for the CEO’s proposed 2025 performance award.
Elon Musk appreciated Dorsey’s endorsement, responding to the Twitter co-founder’s post with a heart emoji. Musk has been pretty thankful for the support for is fellow tech executives, also thanking Michael Dell recently, who also advocated for its proposed 2025 performance award.
Musk’s support
While Elon Musk’s 2025 performance award has received opposition from proxy advisors such as Glass Lewis and ISS, it has received quite a lot of support from longtime bulls such as ARK Invest, and, more recently, Schwab Asset Management following calls from TSLA retail shareholders.
“Schwab Asset Management’s approach to voting on proxy matters is thorough and deliberate. We utilize a structured process that focuses on protecting and promoting shareholder value. We apply our own internal guidelines and do not rely on recommendations from Glass Lewis or ISS. In accordance with this process, Schwab Asset Management intends to vote in favor of the 2025 CEO performance award proposal. We firmly believe that supporting this proposal aligns both management and shareholder interests, ensuring the best outcome for all parties involved,” Charles Schwab told Teslarati.
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