Tesla invites select buyers to order a Cybercab for personal use at $29,990, plus a required $299 a month
The steering-wheel-free two-seater can be ordered by invitation with a $1,000 deposit and estimated December delivery in Austin, but it only operates inside Tesla's Robotaxi service areas and needs an Autonomy Subscription to move.
Last updated
Tesla has started selling its Cybercab to individuals, at least by invitation. The company's Robotaxi account said on Friday that "select customers" are being invited to buy the two-seater for personal use, InsideEVs reports, and that initial availability is limited.
The price and the catch
The order page lists the Cybercab at $29,990 before taxes, with a $1,000 non-refundable deposit and an estimated delivery of December 2026 in Austin, Texas, according to Electrek, which reviewed the screenshots Tesla posted. That makes it Tesla's cheapest vehicle, about $7,000 below a Model 3, InsideEVs says.
The car will not run without an Autonomy Subscription, pre-selected on the order page at $299 a month with the first month included. The fine print says the subscription and regular maintenance are required to operate. Over a year that is roughly $3,600 on top of the purchase price.
Where it can drive
The Cybercab has no steering wheel or pedals and works only inside Tesla's supported Robotaxi service areas. Electrek lists those as Austin, Dallas, Houston, Fort Worth and San Antonio in Texas and Miami, Orlando and Tampa in Florida. Tesla AI chief Ashok Elluswamy said it will work unsupervised in the same locations as the Robotaxi service while serving the owner's own trips, TechCrunch reports.
Responding to a post from reviewer Marques Brownlee, Elon Musk said the Cybercab will be available nationwide as regulators approve it and that the monthly fee is too high, suggesting it should be closer to about $115, according to TechCrunch. Tesla has not announced a price change.
Open questions
InsideEVs notes that Tesla did not say whether owners can add their cars to the Robotaxi network to earn money, and that the car's lack of a steering wheel, pedals and mirrors has drawn questions from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about how Tesla certified it. Electrek reports that Tesla answered NHTSA on 30 October and asked for the response to be kept confidential.
Analysis: a car that only moves inside a geofence and only while a subscription is paid is closer to a personal robotaxi lease than conventional ownership. How quickly the service areas grow will decide how useful it is to buyers outside a few city centres.