It finally happened: Tesla Inc. introduced its long-delayed driverless robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, on Sunday.
The limited launch, deemed a “pilot,” showcased the ride-hailing service using the company’s Model Y vehicles operating in the safes areas of the city within specific geo-mapped boundaries. On Sunday, videos on social media confirmed what Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been teasing for months: Rides are happening at a flat fee of $4.20 per ride.
Tesla sent early-access invitations the past week to selected customers, who were able to download and use the new robotaxi app Sunday. The invitations confirm the service will operate daily from 6:00 a.m. to midnight, but “may be limited or unavailable in the event of inclement weather.” A company employee will sit in the right front passenger seat as a “safety monitor,” Tesla said.
Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, who took two 15-minute rides in a Robotaxi in Austin on Sunday, offered these takeaways — “it was a comfortable, safe, and personalized experience. The ride itself was completely smooth.”
And exceedingly safe and controlled, as Musk planned for months.
“We want to deliberately take it slow,” Musk told CNBC in May. “I mean, we could start with 1,000, 10,000 on day one, but I don’t think that would be prudent. So we will start with probably 10 for a week, then increase it to 20, 30, 40.”
Tesla’s so-called Cybercab runs on the company’s Fully Self-Driving program, a batch of cameras and real-time driver footage to train the vehicle’s artificial intelligence (AI) neural network. Most self-driving companies, such as Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo, depend on cameras and LiDAR sensors and use geo-mapped systems to help determine a vehicle’s route.
Even up until the launch, which had been postponed from June 12, there was the possibility of another delay, fueled by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. On X this week, he said things could be pushed back because Tesla is being “super paranoid about safety, so the date could shift.”
The latest delay was undoubtedly inflamed by Musk’s social media-spiked falling out with President Donald Trump. The conflagration over Musk’s unsuccessful push for a NASA head could imperil any chances of Tesla gaining fast-tracked regulatory approvals under the Trump administration. Mix in Musk’s controversial turn as at the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency, and Tesla has a branding burden, say tech observers.
“Technology aside, I wonder if Elon has factored in some negative response to his ‘brand’ and in this case the RoboTaxi launch, as a result of his DOGE leadership and strong Trump association,” Keith Newman, managing partner at The GTM Firm, said in an email. “We saw pretty dramatic reactions with rallies at Tesla stores due to those DOGE cuts, which impacted a lot of people and caused job losses and cuts in social programs. Does that have a carryover effect? Or put another way, assuming pricing is on par and I have a choice between Waymo and Tesla Robo’s, who ya gonna call?”
While Tesla literally and figuratively spins its wheels, domestic rivals like Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo operates driverless taxis in Austin, San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles — and will soon arrive on the Peninsula, near Silicon Valley. Meanwhile, China boasts an autonomous robotaxi fleet of about 1,700 through the likes of Baidu’s Apollo Go, WeRide, and Pony AI.
Autonomous vehicles are increasingly choking the streets of Austin. In addition to Waymo, startup Avride is teaming with Uber Technologies Inc. to deliver Thai takeout to customers downtown. Amazon.com Inc.’s Zoox and Volkswagen are testing taxis in Texas, too.
“Tesla is absolutely a player” in robotaxis, Alex Roy, a general partner at New Industry Venture Capital and podcast host on AV vehicles, said in an interview. “It can scale, and will be one of five or six autonomous services in the U.S. It will do a good job of gathering key Tesla influencers in Texas, and create the narrative command that is 20% of the stock price.”
Roy’s question is whether the multiple Tesla rides in Austin are simultaneous or occupied. “I want to see how these cars handle airport runs and highway operations,” he said.
A “supervised” version of Tesla’s robotaxi service is available for some employees in Austin and San Francisco, Tesla’s AI account said on X in April.
But the company is taking tentative steps as it navigates the Musk-Trump feud as well as regulatory hurdles. Last month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) wrote a letter to Tesla questioning its ride hailing service, including its planned use of teleoperations. The agency asked Tesla to respond by Thursday. Tesla could face a fine up to $27,874 per day if Tesla does not give a prompt response, with a maximum fine of $139,356,994.
In October, Musk raised the curtain on the self-driving Cybercab at Tesla’s “We, Robot” event in Burbank, Calif., after a decade-long tease. The two-door models has no steering wheel, gas or brake pedals.
