The mechanical backup for a drive-by-wire system is different to all those other things in that it's a critical safety issue. If _anything at all_ happens to the electronics while driving then it's important that you can stop the vehicle safely. That mandates manual brakes and steering, even if they're barely effective at all without power it's a lot better than nothing.
The cybertruck has two separate steering motors for redundancy. Passenger jets have been doing "x-by-wire" for decades. Properly engineered it's as reliable as mechanical linkage.
I tend to agree, TBH. People bring up fly-by-wire, but even that is simpler. AFAIK, those systems aren't variable ratio the way CT is. CT literally will have different steering ratios depending on the speed, so one steering wheel angle will have different effects on the actual steering angle depending upon the speed.
How will that work in the real world? Could there be bugs? Will people get used to it or will it lead to mistakes?
I'm looking forward to getting a chance to try it, TBH.
