Yesterday, a gold Tesla Cybercab pulled up outside my apartment in downtown Austin, TX.

It found a spot along the side of the road, turned on its hazards, and waited for me.

A few minutes later, I was sitting inside one of the first Cybercabs available to public riders, about to let it drive me across town.

After riding in just about every major self-driving service over the years – Waymo, Cruise, Aptiv and Tesla’s existing Robotaxi – I’ve been especially curious to see how the Cybercab compares.

And yesterday, I finally got my chance.

My first impression happened before the car even moved.

The Cybercab is a small, gold, two-seat vehicle designed from the ground up for autonomous transportation.

Open the door and you quickly realize how seriously Tesla took that idea.

There’s no steering wheel, pedals, gear shift, side or rearview mirrors.

There isn’t even a rear windshield.

And the dashboard as we know it is basically gone.

The interior consists of two seats and a giant screen in front of you.

There are no physical buttons anywhere, with the exception of the button used to open the door.

It feels less like sitting in a car and more like sitting in your own little transportation pod.

Getting it moving was incredibly simple.

I hit “Open Door” on my phone, climbed inside and fastened my seatbelt.

My destination was already loaded into the system, so all I had to do was hit “Start Ride.”

The door closed and we were off.

Here’s Where Tesla Stands Out

I've taken enough autonomous rides at this point that the novelty of being driven around by a computer has mostly worn off.

This also means I notice the differences between them.

Within a few minutes, I noticed the same thing I've experienced with Tesla's other self-driving vehicles:

The ride is incredibly smooth.

This has always been one of my biggest complaints about Tesla’s competitor Waymo – owned by Alphabet.

Waymos tend to be jumpy. They’ll stop quickly, accelerate quickly, and occasionally take turns faster than I would expect.

Their routing can be even stranger.

I've had multiple Waymos travel down a main road toward my destination, turn off into a neighborhood, weave through several side streets, and eventually return to the exact same road.

I have no idea why…

But it happens often enough that I almost never choose a Waymo when I have the option of taking a human-driven car or one of Tesla's self-driving vehicles.

The Cybercab felt much more natural.

• It took a direct route to my destination.

• Acceleration was smooth.

• Braking was smooth.

• Turns felt normal.

• At no point during the trip did the car do something that made me wonder what it was thinking.

In fact, the most surprising thing about my first Cybercab ride was how quickly I stopped thinking about the fact that I was riding in a Cybercab.

The entire experience was pleasantly uneventful.

Eleven minutes after leaving my apartment, we arrived at my destination.

Quick, smooth, direct, and no forced conversation along the way.

I Did Have One Complaint, Though…

There was one part of the experience that I think Tesla can improve.

When we reached my destination, I went to get out from what would traditionally be the driver's side of the car.

But without mirrors or even a rear windshield, I had no easy way to see whether a car or cyclist was approaching from behind before I stepped into the street.

The Cybercab's doors open vertically, similar to an exotic sports car, which certainly helps.

But they still jut outward slightly, and eventually I still have to stick my neck out onto the street.

It was a minor inconvenience. And thankfully there was no passing traffic.

But it did strike me as an interesting design problem created by removing all the equipment a human driver would normally use.

Fortunately, Tesla already has everything it needs to solve it.

• The Cybercab can see the traffic around the vehicle with its cameras.

• Tesla could show me that camera feed on the screen as I exit.

• It could warn me when a cyclist or car is approaching.

• Maybe the door eventually waits a few seconds to open until the coast is clear.

Tesla asked me for feedback after the ride, so that's exactly what I typed in the suggestion box.

And then came my favorite part of the morning.

Would You Like to Tip Your Cybercab?

After submitting my feedback, Tesla asked if I wanted to leave a tip.

The ride was great… so why not?

I selected one of the suggested tip amounts.

See them for yourself below:

After clicking, a hedgehog wearing sunglasses popped up on my phone with a message:

Of course, there was nobody to tip.

I laughed, put my phone away, and walked away thinking to myself:

Only Elon could build a gold sports car with gullwing doors… make it drive itself flawlessly… suggest $0.69 and $4.20 as tip amounts… and then have a hedgehog troll you at the end.

It truly is Elon’s world.

I’m just riding in it.