A gold Cybercab with its doors raised, displayed on a white plinth in a skylit gallery beside an oak bench and a small wall label.

A study in what it earns.

Enter the exhibition

Tesla now sells its driverless two-seater for $29,990, plus $299 a month. We did the sums, and hung them room by room.

Cybercab, 2026Aluminium, glass, software.
Price $29,990. Subscription $299 a month.
Sold by invitation since November 13, 2026.
Yield: undetermined.

Room 1

The price

Painting: a kitchen table with a notebook of tally marks, a gold Cybercab outside the window.

Plate 03. The kitchen table.

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

$47,631
Monthly fee

Before taxes, insurance and charging. The first month is included, so five years is 59 payments. Musk has said $299 is “too high” and should be about $115.

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

Room 2

The return

Painting: a brass balance with a small gold car in one pan and coins in the other.

Plate 23. The scale.

Does it pay?

Not yet. Owner earning is not open, and Tesla’s stated target is the second quarter of 2027. Until then this is a scenario.

One month, in this scenario

Fares collected
$3,000
Network share
−$900
Autonomy Subscription
−$299
Charging, insurance, cleaning
−$540
The owner keepsper month$1,261
Months to earn back $29,990
24
Scenario, not a forecastTesla has published no owner terms and owner earning is not open. Assumes 30 days, 40% extra unpaid miles, charging at 5¢ a mile, $180 insurance and $150 cleaning and parking a month.

Room 3

The map

Painting: a white picket fence through a subdivision, a gold Cybercab on the near side.

Plate 21. The fence.

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: the River Walk, San Antonio.
    San Antonio 274 sq mi
    Painting: the Stockyards, Fort Worth.
    Fort Worth 144 sq mi
    Painting: a freeway overpass, Houston.
    Houston 254 sq mi
    Painting: Ocean Drive, Miami.
    Miami 31 sq mi

    Room 4

    The fine print

    Painting: four keys on a rack; one carries a tag that reads $299.

    Plate 04. The key is rented.

    Eight clauses, in plain English.

    What you agree to with the $1,000 deposit. It is not refundable.

      Room 5

      The openings

      Painting: a gold Cybercab by a taco truck at night.

      Plate 11. The taco truck.

      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.

      Room 6

      The operator

      Painting: a depot at night with three gold Cybercabs charging.

      Plate 06. The depot at night.

      How to start a
      robotaxi business.

      Seven steps, every claim sourced. For people who would rather run the cars than own one.

      Start at step one

        Twenty-three plates.

        The painting on the wall changes each time you visit. Each one opens a different room.

        Painting: a porch at dawn, a gold Cybercab leaving.
        Your car could have a job.Plate 15. Opens The price.
        Painting: a picnic in a field of bluebonnets beside a gold Cybercab.
        Independent. Sourced. Free.Plate 19. Opens How we work.
        Painting: a gold Cybercab in a car wash.
        Robots still need washing.Plate 14. Opens The openings.
        Painting: a gold Cybercab alone at a drive-in cinema at dusk.
        Coming in the second quarter of 2027.Plate 22. Opens The return.
        Painting: the view from the two seats of a Cybercab, no steering wheel.
        Take a seat. There is no other.Plate 16. Opens The price.

        The reading room.

        Six playbooks for people who want to do something about it.

        See every guide

        One letter a week.

        It keeps up with the numbers, so you don’t have to. Free. Unsubscribe in one click.

        Painting: a newsstand in Dallas; a gold Cybercab waits at the kerb.
        Plate 17. The newsstand.