Tesla invites select customers to order Cybercab at $29,990 with $299 monthly subscription

Tesla has started inviting "select customers" to order a Cybercab for personal use at $29,990 before taxes, but the vehicle requires a $299 monthly "Autonomy Subscription" to operate, Electrek reported. Tesla's Robotaxi account announced the invitations on X on Friday, November 13, with screenshots of the order page and invitation email.

According to Electrek, the order page shows an estimated delivery of December 2026 in Austin, Texas, and requires a $1,000 non-refundable deposit. The subscription comes pre-checked at $299 a month, with one month included. The fine print reads: "Subscription and regular vehicle maintenance required to operate."

The invitation email carries a similar note, saying the service is "Only available in supported service areas. Subscription required for operation."

Specifications and total cost

According to Electrek, the Cybercab is a two-seater with a 21-inch center touchscreen and 20.1 cubic feet of cargo space. It has neither a steering wheel nor pedals. Tesla describes it as "fully autonomous" and says owners will "manage your ride in the app."

Elon Musk had promised a price "below $30,000" when he unveiled the Cybercab in 2024, Electrek noted. The outlet calculated that the subscription adds $3,588 a year, or about $47,600 over five years, before insurance, maintenance, taxes and charging.

Service areas and regulatory questions

Tesla operates its Robotaxi service in eight cities, Electrek said: Austin, Dallas, Houston, Fort Worth and San Antonio in Texas, and Miami, Orlando and Tampa in Florida. Those are the places where a Cybercab could operate.

Electrek cited an independent tracker, Koby Pierce, who tested thousands of addresses in the Robotaxi app. In the six cities he examined, he found that the zones where Tesla actually handles pickups and drop-offs make up between 59% and 78% of the advertised geofences, and roughly 59% in Austin. Electrek said railroad crossings are a major factor, and that in Houston the app quoted about 40 minutes for a two-block trip downtown.

Electrek also reported that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has ordered Tesla to demonstrate under oath that a car without a brake pedal meets federal safety standards that call for one. Tesla responded on October 30 and asked that its response be kept confidential, according to Electrek, which said NHTSA had not ruled.

Electrek, which framed parts of its report as opinion, questioned why Model Y owners who paid for Full Self-Driving cannot get unsupervised operation in the same zones, given that the Cybercab uses the same AI4 computer as the current Model Y. It said Tesla has pushed that capability to around the second quarter of 2027.