Tesla Cybercab goes on sale to select customers for US$29,990, with a US$299 monthly fee

A car with no steering wheel can now be ordered for US$29,990, if Tesla has invited you. On 13 November, Tesla’s Robotaxi account on X said: “Select customers are now being invited to purchase Cybercab for personal use.” The post showed the gold, butterfly-door two-seater, Reuters reported.

This is the first time the Tesla Cybercab, built for driverless rides, is offered to individuals rather than only to Tesla’s own service. It is a small, careful first step. Tesla’s Lars Moravy, a vice president of vehicle engineering, said last month that Tesla aims to start selling Cybercabs to the public by the end of 2026.

What the Tesla Cybercab costs: US$29,990 plus US$299 a month

The price is US$29,990, according to InsideEVs, Drive Tesla and Reuters. InsideEVs calls it Tesla’s cheapest vehicle ever; that is the outlet’s claim, not Tesla’s. It also lands under the sub-US$30,000 target Elon Musk gave in October 2024.

The car cannot run without an “Autonomy Subscription” of US$299 per month, InsideEVs, Reuters and Drive Tesla agree. The Cybercab has no steering wheel, so the subscription is not an extra. It is how the car works at all.

Drive Tesla alone reports more detail. It says buyers see a December 2026 delivery estimate and pay a non-refundable US$1,000 deposit, that the first month of the subscription is free, and that the terms require the subscription plus regular maintenance. We could not confirm this elsewhere, so treat it as reported. InsideEVs says only that deliveries could come “as soon as next month”.

The monthly fee, the map and the missing numbers

Even Tesla’s chief executive has questioned the fee. Musk said, “The monthly fee is too high,” and that it should match the roughly US$115 per month that FSD plus connectivity costs on other Tesla models, Reuters reported. No one else has reported this, and Tesla has not announced a change.

The map matters just as much. A Cybercab may operate only in “supported service areas”, InsideEVs and Drive Tesla report. Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s AI head, told Reuters it will work unsupervised in the same places as the robotaxi service. Tesla’s driverless service began in Austin in June 2025, reached Dallas and Houston in April 2026 and Miami in July 2026. Musk said the car would be available nationwide once Tesla gets regulatory approval.

What we do not know is a long list: how many customers were invited, how they were chosen, which service areas apply exactly, and which regulatory approvals or exemptions are in place.

If you are not on the invite list

For most readers, nothing changes today. This is an invitation-only offer, and the sources describe operation in Tesla’s service areas only, so a personal Cybercab will not drive just anywhere. Tesla has not said when other customers or other countries could follow. If you are weighing a driverless car in future, count the whole cost: US$29,990 plus US$299 a month is roughly US$3,588 a year in fees alone, by our arithmetic.

Elsewhere, robotaxis are advancing by different routes. Waymo, for example, has a robotaxi plan for Toronto. Tesla’s own numbers were in the spotlight too, in our look at Tesla’s Q3 2026 earnings. And the company is also winding down another vehicle, as we covered when Cybertruck production was set to end.

Why a cheap car with a pricey subscription is a fair first test

There is real good here. A driverless car at a US$29,990 sticker price puts the idea within reach of far more households than a luxury model would. Tesla also tied it to service areas where its robotaxis already run, instead of promising everywhere at once.

The cautions are just as clear. A subscription that Musk himself calls too high could slow interest. A single outlet’s deposit and delivery details are not yet confirmed. And a car that works only in some places, pending regulators in others, is a narrower product than “nationwide” suggests.

On balance, this reads as a controlled test of whether people will pay for a self-driving car, and at what monthly price. The likelier outcome is a slow widening, with the fee and the map changing as Tesla learns.

The next things to watch are whether the subscription price changes, and which service areas and approvals Tesla names first.