Matte gold, sloped, and steering-wheel-free, the Tesla Cybercab seems designed to catch the eyes of looky-loos. Now rubberneckers may have more opportunities: Tesla is set to host an event on Thursday at its Austin, Texas, headquarters to debut the Cybercab.

Tesla first rolled out a prototype Cybercab at a flashy event on the Warner Bros. lot in 2024. This week’s unveiling will likely mark the vehicle’s official introduction to the electric-auto maker’s small ride-hail service. It has operated a pilot program in Austin since last summer, and has since expanded to a handful of other cities in Texas and Florida, with permits to launch in Arizona and Nevada. (A “robotaxi” service in the San Francisco Bay Area is not legally permitted to operate without drivers behind the wheel.) Before the event, Tesla added 51 Cybercabs to its fleet of vehicles registered to operate in Texas (263 Model Ys are also registered).

“The streets won't be the same anymore,” Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s head of AI software, posted last month on X. When an X user asked whether the Cybercabs would “flood Austin,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk, with his characteristic moth-to-the-flame tendencies toward hyperbole, responded with a simple “Yes.”

Details on the event are still scant, and the basic business model for the Cybercab is in question—are the vehicles just for ride-hail operations, or meant to be sold to individual drivers? States regulate autonomous vehicles, and some tightly control permits and data collection. However, Musk still insisted this year that Tesla will sell Cybercabs dire...