Is Elon's Gold Cybercab a Nod to Trump, Who Loves Gold? Billionaire Reveals the Reason Behind the Colour

Elon Musk has explained the reason behind the Tesla Cybercab's gold colour. This two-seat, driverless taxi, which has no steering wheel or pedals, began carrying invited passengers in Austin, Texas, on Thursday. Public rides are set to start at 5 p.m. Central Time on Friday, but only in limited areas of the city.

The colour has sparked speculation. Donald Trump has extensively decorated the Oval Office and is designing a White House ballroom with gold accents. Some Tesla owners have wondered online if the car's gold is a nod to the president.

Why Musk Says the Colour Is Gold

Musk's answer arrived on Thursday, and the president wasn't in it. Replying to footage of the car shared on X by Tesla-focused account DogeDesigner, he wrote that transport is entering a literal golden era. That, he said, is why the car is gold.

DogeDesigner described the moment as a 'Golden Era', and Musk responded: 'That's why Cybercab is gold!' Musk gave no further explanation in his post. However, Tesla had already offered a more specific explanation for the colour before Musk's latest comment.

Behind the joke sits a real launch. Tesla said on Thursday that Austin rides had begun in limited areas of the city, and that its driverless fleet had passed a million miles of unsupervised operation, with no human in the driver's seat. Both claims come from the company, not a regulator.

None of that explains the shade. Musk said at the 2024 unveiling that Tesla planned to sell the car for under $30,000 (about £22,000), although that remains a planned price rather than a current retail price.

Tesla Answered This Question Nearly Two Years Ago

Tesla had already explained the colour before Musk's latest comment. Gold was chosen as 'a future version of the idea of a New York City yellow cab,' said Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla's chief designer. He was speaking in a December 2024 video made with the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

The colour also has a manufacturing angle. Tesla said in July that the Cybercab's body panels avoid the conventional paint-shop process. The colour is incorporated during the moulding process, so the panels emerge already coloured.

The company said the process cuts the manufacturing cycle for those parts from hours to minutes. Tesla put the reduction in manufacturing and supply-chain emissions for those parts at 35% and said the process eliminates the volatile organic compound emissions associated with traditional painting. These are Tesla's own figures.

Musk has spent years discussing ways to simplify Tesla's paint process, and the company trimmed its colour range in 2018 to simplify manufacturing.

Where Donald Trump Comes In

Gold decoration features prominently in Trump's White House surroundings. The Oval Office contains gold-framed pictures and other gold accents, while renderings of the new White House ballroom show extensive gold decoration.

Psychology experts interviewed by HuffPost have offered several interpretations of Trump's use of gold, linking the colour with status, authority, and wealth. 'Gold just becomes a visual shorthand for those qualities,' said Manahil Riaz, a Houston psychotherapist, speaking to the outlet. Denise Dudley, a clinical psychologist and behavioural expert, told the same outlet that using gold could create a visible distinction between the wealthy and everyone else.

Those are expert interpretations, not evidence of Trump's actual motivations. Neither expert was discussing the Cybercab.

Musk has not linked the colour to the president, and Tesla has not either. No evidence shows Tesla chose the colour as a tribute to Trump.

The chronology also makes a Trump-specific explanation difficult to support. Tesla unveiled the Cybercab in October 2024, and von Holzhausen explained the gold colour in December, before Trump's second term began in January 2025.

The question has nevertheless prompted speculation online, including among Tesla owners. On Tesla Motors Club, one forum user speculated about a possible connection between the colour and Trump's preference for gold.

Tesla's own explanation is older and more practical. The Cybercab's gold colour was presented as a modern take on New York's yellow cabs. At the same time, its unusual manufacturing process is designed to speed up production of key body parts.