Painting: a gold Cybercab with its doors raised at the kerb on South Congress, Austin, at dusk.

The car that goes to work.

And the people who get paid when it does.

Start with the numbers
Cover 01 of 23 · AI illustration South Congress, Austin, at dusk

The offer,
in five numbers.

On November 13 Tesla began inviting select customers to buy a Cybercab for personal use: two seats, no steering wheel, no pedals. This is what the invitation says.

5 years, all in

$47,631

What a $29,990 Cybercab costs after 5 years of the $299 subscription.

Monthly fee
Sticker price
$29,990
Subscription, 59 billed months at $299
$17,641
5 years, all in$47,631
The same years at $115 a month
$36,775

Before taxes, insurance and charging. The first month is included in the price, so five years is 59 payments.

Painting: a kitchen table with a notebook of tally marks; through the window, a gold Cybercab in the driveway.
Plate 03. The kitchen table. AI illustration.

What if the fee changes?

Musk has said $299 is “too high” and that it should be about $115. At $115 a month the same 5 years cost $36,775, a difference of $10,856.

Painting: a brass balance with a small gold car in one pan and a stack of coins in the other.
Plate 23. The scale. AI illustration.

Does it pay?

Not yet. Here is the arithmetic, and what would change it.

Fares collected
$3,000
Network share
−$900
Autonomy Subscription
−$299
Charging, insurance, cleaning
−$540
The owner keeps, per month$1,261
Months to earn back $29,990
24
A scenario, not a forecast.

Tesla has published no owner terms, and owner earning is not open. This assumes 30 days, 40% extra unpaid miles, charging at 5¢ a mile, $180 insurance and $150 cleaning and parking a month.

Six ways to earn.
Three are open.

Owning the car is the one way that is still closed. Most of the work around it is not.

A fleet, in seven steps.

For people who would rather run the cars than own one.

Read the operator’s playbook

    Eight cities.
    One fence.

    A Cybercab works only inside the line: 1,277 square miles of it, in Texas and Florida. The service runs 24 hours.

      All eight zones1,277 sq mi

      Listed as coming soon: Las Vegas, Phoenix, Jacksonville. Tesla can expand, shrink or change a zone.

      Painting: a white picket fence running through a Texas subdivision; a gold Cybercab on the near side.
      Plate 21. The fence. AI illustration.
      Painting: the River Walk in San Antonio.
      San Antonio274 square miles. Where the service runs, and where it stops.
       Painting: longhorns crossing a brick street in the Fort Worth Stockyards.
      Fort Worth144 square miles. Live since November 2026.
       Painting: a freeway overpass with the Houston skyline behind.
      Houston254 square miles. The third-largest zone.
       Painting: pastel hotels and palms on Ocean Drive, Miami.
      Miami31 square miles. One of three small Florida zones.
      Painting: four keys on a rack; one carries a paper tag that reads $299.
      Plate 04. The key is rented. AI illustration.

      Eight clauses,
      in plain English.

      What you agree to with the $1,000 deposit.

        The playbooks

        Six long reads for people who want to do something about it.

        See every guide

        Twenty-three covers.

        A different one each time you come back. Each opens a different part of the story.

        Painting: a newsstand in Dallas; a gold Cybercab waits at the kerb.

        One letter a week.

        Every number that moved in the robotaxi business.

        Free. Unsubscribe in one click. AI illustration.