A short video is offering a rare look at how Tesla keeps its unsupervised Robotaxi fleet charged at public Superchargers, and for now the process still involves a human. The setup also shows how one employee can handle multiple vehicles at the same time.
The roughly 56-second video was shared on X by Abhimanyu Yadav and shows a driverless Cybercab arriving at a public Tesla Supercharger with no one inside. Nine Model Y robotaxis also arrive to charge during the time Yadav was at the Supercharger station.
According to Yadav, a single Tesla employee then walks between the vehicles, plugging each one into a Supercharger. They also move vehicles that have not parked in the right position for the charging cable to reach.
The arrangement means the robotaxis handle almost everything themselves. They drive to the Supercharger and park, leaving the employee to handle the final step of connecting the cable, allowing one person to service multiple cars.
Tesla charging lead Max de Zegher explained the company’s Robotaxi charging strategy in September, saying, “Every penny matters for Robotaxi scale, including charging.” Tesla uses public Superchargers where possible, particularly when utilization is low, while also building dedicated Robotaxi Superchargers.
As for the connection, de Zegher said, “They’re plugged in manually, but that’s just for now.”
The demand is already becoming noticeable. Tesla said its robotaxis consumed 7.0 GWh of energy during Q3 2026, as we covered in Supercharger demand climbing as robotaxis add to charging needs. Tesla has also submitted plans for private Robotaxi Supercharger stations in several states.
Charging is particularly important for the Cybercab because it does not have an onboard AC charger, making DC fast charging the only option to keep it operating.
A crowdsourced plug-in idea?
One idea we’d love to see, especially at busier Superchargers, is an incentive for Tesla owners willing to get out and plug in a waiting robotaxi while charging their own car. This could take the form of a discount on their Supercharging session, or even making it free, and could reduce the need for employees to handle every connection.
The same incentive would apply to unplugging, as someone would still need to disconnect the robotaxi once charging is complete. That could end up being a different person if the original driver’s charging session isn’t long enough to handle both ends of the process.
While Tesla’s Robotaxi charging system still needs a human hand at the cable, de Zegher’s “just for now” comment leaves the door open to a more automated solution, whether that’s a system that can connect the charging cable without human assistance or even Optimus eventually taking over the job at dedicated Robotaxi charging sites.
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