Tesla Robotaxi can be moved manually with a gamepad similar to Sony's PlayStation EV Afeela

Dubbed the PlayStation car, the Afeela EV of the Sony-Honda automotive partnership is seemingly not the only vehicle that can be driven with something akin to a DualSense or Xbox controller, as the "driverless" Tesla Cybercab demonstrates.

Back at the CES expo in the beginning of the year, the CEO of the Afeela undertaking that combines Honda's automotive prowess with Sony's infotainment and software universe pulled up their first electric car on stage with a PlayStation 5 controller.

During the maneuvering necessary for positioning the Cybercab on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum, the Tesla team also used a controller to load up the Robotaxi that Tesla otherwise advertises as the driverless future of transportation.

The Cybercab two-seater has no steering wheel or pedals, but its FSD 13 autonomous driving software can't help with micromaneuvers like climbing up a ramp or navigating around the Christmas trees in the museum's Vault exhibition space to get to its designated display spot.

That is why the guy who was "driving" the Robotaxi off its trailer, up the ramp, and around the museum, did it with something that witnesses say looked like an Xbox controller, hooked to the autonomous vehicle's computer.

While the connection was with a cable, insiders tipped that the Cybercab's controller can also be paired wirelessly, including from outside the car, so that one can just make it drive around from afar.

This opens all sorts of possibilities, not least for the Cybercab ride-share platform's service and support team, or first responders that Tesla is now training how to react to situations when the Robotaxi gets on public roads.

In any case, the notion that the first Tesla car without a steering wheel or pedals is completely driverless and autonomous seems to have been a bit exaggerated and there is a way to drive it manually if it gets stuck for whatever reason.