Tesla has opened Cybercab preorders at a reported $29,990, and whether that price fulfills Elon Musk's 2024 promise is now a public feud with Marques Brownlee.
At the 2024 "We, Robot" event, Musk said Cybercab production would begin before 2027 and that the car would cost under $30,000. Brownlee, who was there and doubted the timeline, said he would shave his head if Musk met the delivery and cost terms. After Musk called him a "chicken" for keeping his hair, Brownlee preordered a Cybercab with his own money.
The dispute comes down to two questions. Does an invite-only early sale count as public availability? And will first deliveries arrive in December as projected, or slip into 2027? Neither can be settled until deliveries actually happen, so the bet is still open.
The sticker price is only part of the purchase. The two-seater has just over 20 cubic feet of storage. Under Tesla's purchase agreement, it is limited to personal use for now, so owners cannot send it out as a robotaxi to earn money while idle. Enabling autonomous driving costs $299 a month, a fee comparable to financing a second car.
Our own back-of-envelope math, an assumption and not a Tesla figure: if that fee stayed at $299 for five years, it would total $17,940, about 60% of the sticker price.
Then there are geofences, meaning digital boundaries that restrict where a feature works. The Cybercab is currently operable only within Tesla-enabled Robotaxi geofences, which cover a select few cities in Texas and Florida. Musk acknowledged the limits and said the features will be available nationwide as Tesla receives regulatory approval.
That makes the price the easiest promise to check and the least informative one. A car under $30,000 that needs a $299 monthly fee and a map boundary is a different proposition from a conventional $30,000 car. Regulators, not Tesla's pricing, will decide how fast that boundary moves.