Why This Drive Matters: The First Cybertruck to Attempt a Fully Autonomous Cross-Country Journey
On February 12, 2026, a Tesla Cybertruck named “Kemosabe” pulled out of South Jordan, Utah with a single mission: drive 2,162 miles to Newark, Delaware on Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) v14.2.2.3 with zero disengagements. No one has ever attempted this in a Cybertruck before.
Standing on the Shoulders of Pioneers
This drive builds on a lineage of autonomous driving milestones. In 2024, David Moss completed what many called the first fully autonomous drive from Palo Alto to San Francisco — a run that caught Elon Musk's attention on X. Then Bearded Tesla Guy and JoshWest247 attempted a Model Y coast-to-coast run from San Diego to Jacksonville. Their first attempt ended 60 miles in with a $22,000 repair bill after hitting a metal girder — covered by MotorTrend, Electrek, and dozens of outlets. Their second attempt in January 2026 succeeded: zero takeovers, 45 hours of uncut streaming.
Autonomy advocate Alex Roy, holder of the cannonball run record and longtime champion of autonomous driving milestones, has been documenting and verifying these attempts — raising the bar for what counts as a legitimate autonomous drive.
Why a Cybertruck?
Every previous fully autonomous cross-country attempt has used a Model Y or Model 3. No one has done it in a Cybertruck — the heaviest, most aerodynamically unique vehicle in Tesla's lineup. Different weight distribution, different charging characteristics, different FSD behavior. This isn't just a repeat — it's new data.
Kemosabe runs FSD v14.2.2.3 and is currently ranked #7 on the FSDDB leaderboard with a 99.8% FSD rate across 6,347.6 miles. That's not a demo vehicle on a curated route — that's daily driving in Utah, highway, city, and everything in between.
More Than Content — This Is Personal
This wasn't planned. Taha Abbasi — software engineer, CTO, and the creator behind The Brown Cowboy — knew his uncle didn't have much time left. He's in Delaware. Taha's in Utah. 2,162 miles away.
He and Nichell loaded up Kemosabe and hit the road — planning to make the trip over a couple of days, stopping as needed. "Get there when you can."
Then everything changed. He was already on the road when the call came — his uncle had passed. What started as "get there when you can" became a cannonball run. No more stops. No more breaks. Nichell and Taha taking turns — one drives, one rests, one works. They need to make it to Delaware for the funeral after Zohr prayer.
And honestly? He would've never considered this drive if it wasn't for FSD. He's done this exact route twice before — once in a Lexus ES 350 with just adaptive cruise, once in a Subaru Forester with steer assist. Both times were absolutely grueling. "Told myself never again."
But FSD turns this into something completely different. It's like having your own personal chauffeur — handling work calls, managing urgent things, and still being there for family when it matters most. He never imagined a robot would be driving them to a funeral — but honestly, they'd be too exhausted to do this safely without it. FSD isn't a gimmick right now. It's the reason they can make this work.
The Insta360 X5 is recording every mile. The livestream is running. And the data tells the story: 2187+ miles driven so far, 1 disengagements, $0.00 in charging costs (free Supercharging until September 2026).
The Route
The I-80 Northern Corridor — I-80 eastbound through UT, WY, NE, IA, IL, IN, OH, PA, DE. Open plains of Wyoming and Nebraska, the midwest corridor through Iowa and Illinois, the industrial heart of Indiana and Ohio, over the Appalachians in Pennsylvania, and finally into Delaware. Highway driving, construction zones, weather changes, toll plazas, and everything real roads throw at you.
What We're Proving
This isn't about being anti-human driving. It's about documenting what's possible today — with real data, real conditions, and zero cherry-picking. Every stop is logged. Every disengagement (if any) will be recorded with context. The FSDDB leaderboard tracks it all independently.
When this drive is complete, the data will speak for itself. And if something goes wrong? That's data too. That's the whole point.