Elon Musk says each future Tesla can have Starlink, beginning with the Cybercab

First look: Tesla has put in Starlink {hardware} in a Cybercab, including satellite tv for pc web to the automobile it plans to make use of for its robotaxi service. The corporate’s official Tesla Robotaxi account posted pictures this week of what it known as the “First Cybercab with Starlink integration.” The photographs present a Starlink antenna constructed into the rear of the roof, above the taillights, with an oblong panel masking the dish quite than leaving it uncovered on the skin.

The reveal follows an earlier preview at Tesla’s showroom in San Jose, the place the corporate displayed the deliberate Starlink functionality. Tesla had already mentioned the Cybercab would use Starlink’s V5 dish, a newly launched mannequin rated for obtain speeds of as much as 375 Mbps.

For Tesla, the primary use case is dependable connectivity for a automobile designed to function with out a driver. The Cybercab has no steering wheel or pedals, and passengers are anticipated to easily get in and let Tesla’s onboard software program deal with the journey.

Satellite tv for pc service may give the automobile a connection in locations the place mobile protection is weak or unavailable, which may assist with navigation, assist features, and managing a bigger robotaxi fleet.

Tesla’s vice chairman of AI software program, Ashok Elluswamy, mentioned Starlink is not important to the automobile’s protected operation. “Connectivity is primarily meant for navigation, customer support and, usually, fleet administration,” he mentioned.

– Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) August 10, 2026

Elon Musk has centered on a distinct use for the connection: leisure. “Watch 4K streaming video whereas Cybercab takes you anyplace you need,” he wrote final month.

On Tesla’s earnings name final month, Musk mentioned a robotaxi service wants connectivity that does not rely solely on native wi-fi networks. “Starlink shall be built-in into all our automobile automobiles, at the least for markets that Starlink is lively. As a result of for a Robotaxi scenario, it’s essential have protection in every single place. There are lots of locations, even in Silicon Valley, the place the mobile protection is horrible or generally non-existent,” he mentioned.

His feedback recommend Tesla sees Starlink as greater than an add-on for the Cybercab. In a separate publish Sunday, Musk wrote: “All vehicles can have Starlink sooner or later. It is the one strategy to get tremendous excessive bandwidth to billions of automobiles.”

– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 9, 2026

That assertion may simply as simply consult with Starlink’s deliberate cell service quite than the dish-based broadband system proven on the Cybercab.

Starlink Cellular is designed to work by smartphones and does not require a satellite tv for pc dish. SpaceX has mentioned its next-generation cell providing will use each satellites and a floor community, and it may finally compete with AT&T, T-Cellular, and Verizon.

The Cybercab setup is totally different. It makes use of a bodily Starlink dish constructed into the automobile itself, permitting it to attach on to the satellite tv for pc community. Tesla has not mentioned when the function shall be out there in manufacturing automobiles or whether or not the identical kind of {hardware} shall be put in in different Tesla fashions.