This as told essay is based on a conversation with Gary Moss, 62, a resident of Puyallup, Washington, and his son, David, a Tesla owner. Moss, who is blind, was present Tesla’s Cybercab launch event with his son in Austin. Tesla has made the Cybercab available to the Austin crowd following the event. The two greeted several rides in the Cybercab. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Gary Mos: Before I lost my sight, driving gave me the freedom to go where I needed, when I needed.
For my company I drove 30,000 to 40,000 kilometers per year. There was nothing more exciting for me than going somewhere I had never been before on the open highway. I found that as relaxing as running 10 miles. It was almost the same euphoria.
Almost five years ago, at the end of October, I lost sight in one eye. Within a period of three to four months my second eye broke. I have cancer that is treatable, but not curable.
David Mos: They realized he had a tumor the size of a softball in his brain.
Gary: I can handle a stick pretty well now. I can walk around my house without thinking, and I will walk down the cul-de-sac a lot. But there are many places I can’t go.
If I’m in the middle of the day and want to go to my favorite coffee shop, I used to have the freedom to do that. Now I have to plan trips and hobo favors. People are very kind to take me somewhere, but I still have to ask them, and they have to be willing and have the time and ability to take me where I want to go.
David: I mainly help him drive around or do the shopping. I am also his personal stylist and shopper.
We used to go to a lot more sporting events and big things in areas with lots of traffic and lots of people around. We don’t do that that often anymore.
The Cybercab feels like a ‘living room’
Gary: The first thing I noticed about the Cybercab was how easy it was to get on. I appreciate that the doors open automatically. It was as if the driver opened the door and said, “Oh, Mr. Moss, glad to see you.”
Tesla’s regular coil handles can be a little difficult for me. You have to hit them with your thumb and grab them at the same time. With the Cybercab they open, you get in and get out. I put my hand on the door so I don’t bump into the edge.
Gary Moss and his son, David Moss, took several rides in a Cybercab after Tesla held a launch event in Austin. David Moss
David: If you walk towards the doors so that they are in your way, the doors will only open part of the way.
Gary: Tesla also had a line: “We want you to feel like you’re in your living room.” That really worked, especially for me, because I don’t get distracted by the things that go by. I’m sitting there on a very comfortable chair, listening to good music and chatting with my son.
At the end of my time in my second living room, I suddenly find myself where I want to be.
Other people’s driving scares me, but not these cars.
David: He took six Cybercab rides by now.
Gary: When I’m with people who are kind enough to take me somewhere, I try not to criticize too much. Lots of things catch my attention, like making last-minute decisions to change course or hit the brakes. That almost never happens when I’m in a Tesla.
‘It’s not all the way there’
David: On a busy street with five or six Cybercabs nearby, there were no audible signals for my father to know which one was ours. That’s one of the things that needs to be improved.
Gary: If you have multiple Cybercabs in one place, there needs to be a way for me to make it easy to know which place I’m walking to.
David: We appreciated being able to ask Grok, the AI voice assistanta few things: where we were, how many miles we had left, and the time. But my father could not change or set the destination.
There were more voice activation things than we expected, but for someone like my dad, it’s not quite there.
The Cybercab’s internal user interface consists mainly of a large screen. David Moss
Gary: One of the problems with trip notification apps is that they need the ability to use the phone, and I can only use my phone voice activation.
If only I could say, “Hey Siri or Grok, I need a taxi to take me to the supermarket or take me somewhere to eat’, and within a few minutes someone showed up, and all I had to do is touch a button and I’m away – I can’t believe the options I would have. Sometimes I would like to go somewhere to get something to eat, and no one wants to take me there.
And instead of a quick tone announcing we’re there, it might also help if the Cybercab gave me a quick summary of where we’re parked and, using the cameras, what it would take to walk, say, thirty meters between where we’re parked and the door of the building I’m entering.
David: A lot of this stuff wouldn’t be relevant if I personally owned a Cybercab, if all my dad had to do was walk into the driveway and he could use Grok to drive the car.
Gary: I would buy a cybercab. I would feel quite happy. The experience is so close that I have everything I need now.
