Tesla is inviting some people to buy a Cybercab ‘for personal use’ — but read the fine print

Tesla is doubling, or perhaps tripling down on its bold claims of an autonomous future with the offer to “select customers” to purchase a Cybercab for “personal use.” But the gilded, steering-wheel-free two-seater will “only be available in supported service areas” — meaning you’ll only be able to buy one if you live in one of the cities where Tesla currently operates its Robotaxi service.

The price of a Cybercab is listed at $29,990, plus a mandatory $299-a-month “Autonomy Subscription.” Tesla’s Robotaxi account on X announced the new offer, including screenshots of the order page and the invite email. But don’t expect a fleet of personally owned Cybercabs to suddenly materialize on public roads: “Initial availability is limited,” the invitation email warns.

1/3Image: Tesla

Tesla began offering rides in the Cybercab as part of its Model Y-powered Robotaxi service in Austin in September. The company now has 278 Cybercabs in operation, representing approximately 40 percent of its fleet, according to the crowd-sourced Robotaxi Tracker.

The inclusion of a mandatory $299/month subscription is sure to rankle some fans who may have dreamed of cruising around in a $30,000 driverless Tesla, as originally promised by Tesla CEO Elon Musk when he first introduced the Cybercab in 2024. Musk made no mention of the Autonomy Subscription at that event, though it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise given the $99/month fee Tesla currently charges for its Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature.

Still, that money adds up over time. Over a standard 5-year ownership period, the mandatory $299/month fee adds $17,940 to the sticker price (even with the first month included), bringing the real baseline cost to roughly $47,600 before taxes, charging, and insurance — more than a brand-new Model 3 or Model Y that you can actually drive anywhere in the country.

Unlike a standard Tesla where canceling FSD just reverts the car to manual driving, canceling the $299/month Autonomy Subscription renders the Cybercab completely unusable on public roads because there is no manual fallback. In effect, the car becomes a brick. Additionally, Tesla says that buyers will have to put down a $1,000 non-refundable deposit just to get in line for a December delivery window that isn’t guaranteed.

One of the biggest selling points of Musk’s 2024 “We, Robot” pitch was that regular people could buy a Cybercab and add it to Tesla’s Robotaxi network to earn passive income while they sleep or work. But the order terms explicitly prohibit owners from using the vehicle for commercial purposes — meaning no Uber, no DoorDash, and no putting it on Tesla’s own Robotaxi network to offset the $299/month fee. Tesla AI chief Ashok Elluswamy has floated Q2 2027 as a possible target for letting customer cars join the network, so early buyers are paying full freight with zero way to monetize the car.

Of course, that’s just the fine print. On X, Tesla CEO Elon Musk was promising a much wider rollout, subject — of course — to “regulatory approval.” Musk frequently frames regulatory approval as the primary external bottleneck holding back his robotaxi timelines as a way to shift focus away from Tesla’s technological shortcomings.

(For what it’s worth, he also called his own company’s $299/month Autonomy Subscription “too high,” arguing that it should actually be $115/month or closer to Tesla’s $99/month Full Self-Driving subscription.)

But Musk seemed more focused on taunting YouTuber Marques Brownlee, who promised to shave his head if Tesla delivered a Cybercab for under $30,000 before 2027, than answering any of the litany of safety and liability questions raised by this offer. (For his part, Brownlee says he thinks his hair is safe.)

For starters, how does Tesla plan on selling a vehicle that doesn’t comply with current Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards that require traditional controls like steering wheels and pedals? Tesla says the Autonomy Subscription covers autonomous driving, maintenance, and towing, but explicitly excludes auto insurance. The company hasn’t explained how personal auto insurers will underwrite a car with no human driver, or how liability is split between the owner and Tesla if the vehicle causes an accident while operating autonomously. Nor has Tesla disclosed how it selects invited buyers or how many units are earmarked for private sale versus its internal fleet.

Then there is the small matter of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration already opening a formal audit into how Tesla self-certified a vehicle without a steering wheel, pedals, or side mirrors. Tesla submitted its legal justification to NHTSA in October, requested that the entire response be kept confidential, and is now taking customer deposits while NHTSA’s ruling is still pending.

Which means early buyers aren’t just paying $47,600 for a geofenced car they aren’t allowed to drive — they’re putting down non-refundable cash on a vehicle the federal government hasn’t even decided is street-legal.

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• Andrew J. Hawkins