Tech · Markets
Few Grasp It: Musk Says Cybercab Is Built for the Cheapest Mile
On Wednesday the Tesla chief said the two-seater's fully loaded cost-per-mile design is understood by very few.
Elon Musk returned to the cost argument on Wednesday, the same day ARK's note on fleet buyers was circulating.
"The degree to which Cybercab is optimized for lowest possible cost per mile (fully loaded) is understood by very few," he wrote.
He did not attach a cents-per-mile figure. The specs around that sentence are the ones already in the EPA file: 47.6 kilowatt-hours, more than 6 miles per kilowatt-hour, 3,113 pounds, front-wheel drive, about 293 miles of range.
ARK, separately, put a number on the other side of the meter. At scale, the firm projects 25 cents a mile. Keeney wrote that early Austin Cybercab fares are already about 40 percent below Model Y robotaxi fares and about 50 percent below Uber on a 15-minute trip.
Musk's post is not a price list. It is a reminder that the cab is not a smaller Model Y. It is a mile machine, and Tesla is now asking other companies to buy it.
The degree to which Cybercab is optimized for lowest possible cost per mile (fully loaded) is understood by very few.
Harper Quinn is a senior correspondent covering Robotaxi launches, Austin fleet ops, and the day-to-day of Cybercab rides. Previously reported transport and consumer tech for independent trade titles; based in Austin.
