Tesla owners can rent their cars to Cybercab fleet for any duration as Tesla takes a cut of their income

Tesla owners will be able to cover at least their monthly lease payment by renting out their cars to the upcoming autonomous ride-share Cybercab service.

This is what Elon Musk said during the company's 2024 Annual Stockholder Meeting where he was also awarded his $56 billion pay package bonus agreed upon in 2018 provided that Tesla hits certain stock price targets.

Besides the Robotaxi and other cars owned and operated by Tesla, apparently anybody who currently owns a Tesla vehicle will be able to loan it to the Cybercab fleet for any duration of time that suits them.

Elon Musk gave an example with someone who is going on vacation for a week, and can ask to join the fleet during that time with the tap of a button in the dedicated app. Their Tesla cars can join the fleet for weeks, but also for only a few hours if the owner knows they won't need the car then. 

Tesla will be taking a fee for the operation and maintenance of the Cybercab fleet, but most of the money earned will go to the owner, said Elon.

He was confident that people will at least be able to recoup the monthly payment on their Tesla car this way, and cited Cathie Wood's Arc Investment calculations that autonomy can add $5 trillion to Tesla's market cap going forward.

Tesla is already taking steps to announce the Cybercab ride-hail service and the Robotaxi on August 8, and is populating code strings in its APIs with telltale signs.

Just recently, a Rider Quality score and Guest Mode features got uncovered, indicating that the Tesla Cybercab fleet will be styled after Uber's service, while own vehicles will be loaned similar to the way people rent out their houses on Airbnb.

In fact, Musk mentioned Uber several times, including when he clarified that Tesla will take a cut when loaning a car to the Cybercab service, subtracted from the car owner's ride-share income there.

When asked about possible interventions in a car without a driver, Musk said that Tesla is developing FSD with the goal to be extra careful towards vulnerable traffic participants like bike riders or pedestrians, and that the autonomous driving service will actually be safer than human drivers.

Still, the Robotaxi and Cybercab fleet are yet to be approved for public roads, so it remains to be seen what Tesla will announce on August 8.

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